Few modern courses are designed with a closing par-3, but Portumna Golf Club dates back to 1913 and the current 18-hole layout opened in 1992, and the par-3 finishing hole is a beauty.
The green sits below the clubhouse and is in full view of the bar and restaurant inside. This means that there’s always the potential for a dramatic ending to the round, and quite possibly, with many witnesses on hand.
And that’s exactly what happened for three fortunate golfers in the club’s biggest members’ competitions this year.
Players closed out their rounds by making a hole-in-one in the President’s Prize, Men’s Captain’s Prize, and Lady Captain’s prize, which if not a first, is certainly rare enough to be worthy of reporting.
The first ace of this unique trio came at Georgina Chambers’ Lady Captain’s Prize when Carmel Cunningham signed off her tournament in style.
Next up was Dermot O’Brien’s Men’s Captain’s Prize and it was Paul Gohery who walked off with an ace.
And finally, to complete an unlikely hat-trick, Lillian Austin got to write a ‘1’ on her scorecard at James O’Meara’s President’s Prize.
The only problem, of course, with making a hole-in-one on one of the major days in a club calendar is that the bar bill tends to be significantly higher. Fingers crossed they all had insurance!
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