Two players, one day, two holes-in-one, one ball: The Ace Chronicles
Here's one of the wildest hole-in-one stories you'll ever hear, guaranteed.
There's no finer and more memorable shot in golf than the hole-in-one. From now through the Ryder Cup, we'll highlight some of the weirdest, greatest, wildest and most unbelievable aces in history, for pros and amateurs alike. These are the Ace Chronicles, and if you have a notable ace of your own to contribute, email us and let us know. Today: A Minnesota miracle.
The date: June 2022. The scene: Minneapolis Golf Club. Our story begins with 13-year-old Preston Miller, a member of the St. Louis Park High golf team, acing the 121-yard 4th hole using a 7-iron. Bravo, lad! A memory for a lifetime, and not at all frustrating for those of us who have been playing for far longer without an ace!
Alas, three holes later, young Preston — perhaps distracted while wondering how he was going to afford to buy the customary round for the house once he got back to the clubhouse — lost the ball he'd used for the ace. Oh no!
As Preston was in the clubhouse celebrating, another player walked in, proclaiming that he'd just carded an ace of his own. This was Ricardo Fernandez, who had aced the 181-yard 16th hole. Two aces, same course, same day? That's an achievement in itself!
Oh, but it got weirder.
After a wayward shot, Fernandez had been in the woods beside the club's 12th hole, which runs alongside the 7th, and found a Titleist Pro V1 with the monogram "SLP" on it, and the No. 4 — Preston's number. Turns out Fernandez had found young Preston's ball on the 7th, and tucked it away in his bag. When Fernandez stepped up to the tee at 16, he used that same ball ... and proceeded to hole it! Two players, one ball, two aces, one day!
When Fernandez revealed the ball, the St. Louis Park players cheered, and Fernandez couldn't believe it had gotten lost in the first place.
"You played with the same ball that you hit a hole-in-one with?" he asked Preston. "Rule No. 1 is you stick it in your bag."
"I don't know if it's ever happened in the history of golf," Dan Simpson, head pro at the Minneapolis Golf Club, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
"So the question is," @Twincitiesgolf wrote on Instagram, "who should keep the ball?" (The answer: Fernandez gave it back to Preston.)
The Ace Chronicles:
Two players, two aces, one day, one ball • The most heartbreaking hole-in-one miss you’ll ever see
Got a great hole-in-one story of your own? Let us know by email here. More wild ace stories to come!
