Devil Ball Golf - Golf

Okay, ready for your you-gotta-be-kidding-me story of the week, if not the year?

Your setting: lovely St. Petersburg, Florida. Your heroine: 62-year-old Norweigan native Unni Haskell, who, after two months' worth of golf lessons, teed up her first-ever shot on a real live golf course.

On the first tee of the nine-hole par-3 Cypress Links in St. Pete, Ms. Haskell pulled out a driver -- this is a hundred-yard hole, but remember, Ms. Haskell had never played before -- and drilled a 75-yard corker that bumped, ran and ended up right in the hole.

That's right ... on the first swing of the first hole of the first course she ever played, Unni Haskell hit a hole-in-one.

"I didn't know it was that big of a deal,'' she told the St. Petersburg Times. "I thought all golfers do this.''

"She stood there and I could tell she was thinking about her grip and posture and everything,'' said PGA teaching pro Rick Sopka, who was with Haskell on the tee. "Then she makes her swing and hits it about 75 yards in the air. It kind of trundled up to the green and I'm like, 'Go in! Go in!' And then I go crazy, screaming and yelling. I give her a big hug. She didn't believe me. Then I said, 'Unni, here's the problem. There's nowhere to go from here but down.' ''

Now, our bitter and cynical culture is such that the immediate reaction is to call shenanigans, to put it politely, on this story. It's got echoes of the infamous Jacqueline Gagne 16-aces-in-six-months story, yes? And much like the two kids who hit back-to-back holes-in-one -- also in Florida, strangely enough -- it's too good of a story to believe. Plus, since the vast majority of us have never hit an ace -- and, obviously, could never match Unni Haskell's feat -- let's admit it, we're jealous as heck.

But it's honestly not that tough to believe. Apparently, Ms. Haskell has played tennis for quite some time. And a 100-yard hole isn't that tough to reach, particularly with a driver. Think about how many people spray golf balls around the course; doesn't it make logical sense that one of them would eventually drop the ball into the hole? It's the golf equivalent of the infinite monkeys on infinite typewriters eventually banging out the works of Shakespeare.

Still, I'm thinking Ms. Haskell missed an opportunity here. After she hit that shot, she should have dropped her clubs and walked away from the game, retiring as The Greatest Golfer In The History of the Universe. Nobody could ever top that.

[Visor tip: St. Petersburg Times via Deadspin]

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1702 Comments

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  1. sdjerk
    1. Posted by sdjerk Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:10 pm EDT

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    wow.
  2. Mojo Jacobson
    2. Posted by Mojo Jacobson Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:34 pm EDT

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    This has got to be one of the most outrageous moments in sports history! You could not write a "Caddie Shack" scene that remotely approaches this odds-beating incident (and all phenomenal golf shots are odds-beaters by definition).
    What takes this from "outrageous" to "endearingly outrageous" is the bio of the golfer! You go, Unni Haskell, 62-year-old rookie, Unni ("show me the Beagle") Haskell, who probably walked off the set of "Fargo" and onto her first tee!
    Oh, Ya. Nice shot, ya.
  3. Topnotch
    3. Posted by Topnotch Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:17 pm EDT

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    My daughter did this on a par 4 mini - put put course when she was 3
  4. Vito Puzzo
    4. Posted by Vito Puzzo Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:25 pm EDT

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    Let me guess. This is the same 62 year old Florida woman who sold a '63 split window corvette for $500.00 because she wanted to clean out her garage. Oh those silly blue hairs.
    Call me cynical and perhaps bitter in which i should be. I've been golfing 20+ yrs and closest ace was a 175 yd 8-iron off the stick and off the lip. So I say horse hockey, buffalo chips and cow fritters.
    =(
  5. Ron H
    5. Posted by Ron H Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:32 pm EDT

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    These wild shots only seem to happen in Florida because the ground is firm,
    up north you hit it 75 yards in the air with a driver and it hits and backs up.
  6. DRUNKATLUNCH
    6. Posted by DRUNKATLUNCH Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:34 pm EDT

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    it's true... it's on the internet, it must be.
  7. Curtis M
    7. Posted by Curtis M Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:07 pm EDT

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    Actually my wife had the same experience, sin the golf lessons, from about the same distance. In her case, after the hole-in-one, she did drop the clubs, pronounced golf was an easy game, and never played since. I, on the other hand, play regularly for the last 20+ years, and never have experienced the ultimate golf high. Life is not fair.....
  8. hotkarlneedsabeer
    8. Posted by hotkarlneedsabeer Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:20 pm EDT

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    Not sure a PGA member would put his reputation on the line if it wasn't true. It's a very strict organization in terms of ethics.
    It's pretty cool but i wouldn't trade a hole-in-one for being only able to hit my driver 75 yards but that's just me...
  9. Crest
    9. Posted by Crest Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:28 pm EDT

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    Tiger Woods
  10. Hub
    10. Posted by Hub Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:21 pm EDT

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    No kidding. What are you fools thinking? This is a remarkable feat and a once in a lifetime story. She hit this miracle shot in front of her instructor, a PGA Member. I can't believe any of you can question the integrity of any member of our association.
  11. Mike
    11. Posted by Mike Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:34 pm EDT

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    Lies...all lies
  12. Dano
    12. Posted by Dano Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:35 pm EDT

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    She's hot!
  13. ian a
    13. Posted by ian a Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:24 pm EDT

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    no one noticed that its a range ball she is holding?
  14. Good Guy
    14. Posted by Good Guy Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:40 pm EDT

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    She's Norwegian, of course she's good! Lol, no, jk. I don't believe this for a minute.
  15. kasey
    15. Posted by kasey Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:45 pm EDT

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    #13 u are stupid
  16. Birdie74
    16. Posted by Birdie74 Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:20 pm EDT

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    I was playig golf at a course one day when a man had two holes-in-one in the same 18-hole round -- AND shot a 122 -- now that's a story worth telling!
    Another day I was playing with my son and we were waiting on the tee box for the foursome in front of us to tee off. One of the men had the worst swing I had ever seen, so I said to my son, a beginner, "Watch this swing -- look long and hard and never watch him again". Well, the man made his usual gosh awful pass at the ball, topped it, it humped and bumped all the way to the hole, even jumping over a pond, and went into the hole for a hole-in-one. My son very dryly said: "Looks pretty good to me momma."
  17. walking coyote
    17. Posted by walking coyote Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:18 pm EDT

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    Every once in a while the golf Gods shine down upon the earth-----and then there was Peace in the World
  18. CDAI926
    18. Posted by CDAI926 Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:20 pm EDT

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    amazing luck....she should have went and bought a lotto ticket afterwards.
  19. ryan.hall1
    19. Posted by ryan.hall1 Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:57 pm EDT

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    thats awesome
  20. golfinfool2003
    20. Posted by golfinfool2003 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:11 pm EDT

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    Wow wee, hot 62 year old women, let's get together and talk about writing your story, could be a good one.
  21. Ron H
    21. Posted by Ron H Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:32 pm EDT

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    Did she try to cut it into the wind or draw it and ride the wind for a few extra yards?
    Or did she just try to rip it right up the middle?
  22. M. M. Benavides
    22. Posted by M. M. Benavides Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:12 pm EDT

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    $$$
  23. Jimmy H
    23. Posted by Jimmy H Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:19 pm EDT

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    i hate stories like this because there isn't any evidence
  24. PixieFlower9
    24. Posted by PixieFlower9 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:41 pm EDT

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    Thats so intense...........................
  25. skodo
    25. Posted by skodo Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:10 pm EDT

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    i love you

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