'I’m always shocked to get one': Worcester resident Mary Gale cards two holes-in-one during same round

On Wednesday, Mary Gale carded two holes-in-one during the same round while using the same golf club and the same ball.

“It’s mind boggling that that happened,” the Worcester resident admitted.

The National Hole-In-One Registry lists the odds of making two holes-in-one in the same 18-hole round for an average golfer at 67 million to 1.

The odds for Gale weren’t quite as high because she achieved the rare feat on an executive course in Florida that has 11 par 3s instead of the four that most regulation courses have. Nevertheless, carding two aces in the same round was quite an accomplishment. Neither she nor her husband, Jack, a teaching pro at Cyprian Keyes GC in Boylston, have ever heard of anyone doing it before.

The two holes-in-one served as an early birthday present for Gale, who will turn 73 on Monday.

The Gales spend the winter at their condo overlooking the par-5 10th hole at the par-64 Poinciana Golf Club in Lake Worth, Florida, not far from West Palm Beach. She usually plays three times a week from the 4,561-yard back tees.

On the 165-yard, par-3 eighth hole on Wednesday, Gale took extra club because the ground is soft in front of the green. She hit a 4-wood directly at the hole, but lost sight of the ball because of the glare from the sun. Two of the tee shots in her foursome ended up over the green, and she checked them out to see if one of them was hers, but that wasn’t the case. Then she figured her ball might have plugged in front of the green, but on her way to find out, she decided to look in the cup and was surprised to find her Titleist Pro V3 in there. Gale and her playing partners, Gary Snyder, Matt Laskowski and Jim Hood, screamed for joy and high-fived each other.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Gale said. “Everyone went crazy.”

Then on the 180-yard, par-3 14th hole, Gale pulled out her 4-wood for the first time since she used it to ace the eighth hole.

“Remember what happened the last time I hit this 4-wood,” she said to her playing partners. “We all kind of laughed.”

Then it happened again. Her tee shot soared right at the pin, but disappeared over a knoll on the green, so everyone thought it must have ended up too long. They couldn’t find anything beyond the green, so Laskowski checked the cup. He jokingly asked Gale if she was playing a Callaway, and she said no. Then he laughed and pulled her Titleist out of the cup.

“Now we really all go crazy and high-fiving and hugging, Gale said. “We were just in disbelief.”

Gale ranked the eighth and 14th as the two hardest par 3s on the course because of their length and bunkers.

Gale’s Cobra 4-wood is about 30 years old, but it obviously still works.

Gale played with the same ball for one more hole before taking it out of play so she wouldn’t lose it. She plans to have it mounted on a plaque.

Gale aced the 175-yard, par-3 16th hole a few years ago while playing with Hood. On Wednesday she hit her 4-wood once on 16 again, but she came up short in a bunker and made a bogey. Gale finished with a 6-over 70. Obviously, she won skins for both of her aces.

Gale’s impressive golf résumé includes victories in the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship in 1996, the Mass. Women’s Senior Amateur in 2010 and 2012, and the legends division (ages 70 and older) of the Mass. Women’s Senior Amateur in 2022 and 2023.

She also won the NEPGA Pro-Lady six times with Jack and her brother Joe Carr, captured the Mass. Mother-Son 19 times with sons Michael and Dan, won the Endicott Cup in 1973, 1994 and 2013, and prevailed in the New Hampshire Amateur twice. But nothing tops carding two aces in the same round.

“I’d have to say it ranks right up there at the top,” Gale said.

“Some never make one, some have a bunch,” Jack Gale said, “but two in a round is as rare as can be.”

Gale now has six holes-in-one, but she’s still three behind her husband.

Gale and her brother own Bedrock Golf Club in Rutland.

Carding two holes in one during the same round is rare, but not unheard of.

In 2016, 30-handicapper Margery Hadar, 73, made two holes-in-one in the same round with her driver at Granada GC in Coral Gables, Fla, according to PGA.com.

Only three players have recorded two aces in the same round on the PGA Tour: amateur Bill Whedon at the 1955 Insurance City Open at Wethersfield CC in Connecticut, Yusaku Miyazato at the 2006 Reno-Tahoe Open and Brian Harman at the 2015 The Barclays.

The most holes-in-one in a round is three, by Patrick Wills at the Laurel Hill Golf Club in Lorton, Virginia, on June 22, 2015, at the 2015 Summer Solstice Tournament. He shot a 14-under 57. The feat is recognized by Guinness World Records.

So the next time that Gale cards a hole-in-one, will she be disappointed if she doesn’t get two of them?

“I don’t think so,” she said. “I’m always shocked to get one.”

—Contact Bill Doyle at sports@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @BillDoyle15.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester resident Mary Gale connects for 2 holes-in-one during same round in Florida