Every golfer dreams of a hole-in-one.
One swipe of the club, the dimpled Titleist arcing through the air, hitting the green. Bounce, bounce, roll, kerplunk. Hugs, high-fives. Buying drinks for all in the clubhouse.
Scripps Ranch High School senior Maddux Yossem ed the Hole In One Club last week at Torrey Pines Golf Course. What made Yossem’s ace distinct is that it came on the North Course’s 290-yard seventh hole. Not a par 3, but a par 4.
Looking back at his first-ever ace, which came in a dual match against St. Augustine, “I was in shock,” Yossem said. “I couldn’t comprehend what I’d just done.”
Standing at the tee box before his shot, the 5-foot-9, 130-pound Yossem broke out his range finder, measuring the hole at exactly 290 yards.
“I wanted to make sure driver was the right club,” he said. “Don’t use a 3-wood.”
He started the shot to the right of the green, working a draw. He saw it land on the green, but the putting surface being nearly three football fields away, couldn’t track the ball from there.
No one saw the ball roll into the hole. His father, Paul Yossem, a Scripps Ranch assistant coach, was standing behind the green and saw his son’s swing.
“But I didn’t see the ball land on the green,” Paul said.
He was distracted by the group playing behind Maddux’s foursome. They were lollygagging in the No. 6 fairway, looking for balls.
“I was waving at them to speed up play,” Paul said.
When the other three of Maddux’s foursome hit their second shots toward the green, the hunt began to find Maddux’s ball. He sat his bag behind the green, looked deep behind the stick. No ball.
Maddux and some coaches looked right and left of the pin. No ball.
“I thought there might be a chance it was in the hole but there’s a stigma in golf to never check the hole,” said Maddux. “You don’t want to be cocky; 99% of the time, it’s not in the hole.”
So Paul walked to the cup, looked down, spotted his son’s Titleist Pro V1 and shouted, “Shut the front door!”
Maddux walked to the cup, pulled out the ball, hugged and high-fived his father. Nothing too demonstrative.
“He’s kind of a cool customer,” said Paul.
According to the National Hole In One Registry, the odds of making a hole-in-one are about 12,500 to 1. The odds of a PGA Tour player hitting an ace: 1 in 3,000. Depending upon the source, the odds of a hole-in-one on a par 4 are somewhere between 1 in 1,000,000 or 1 in 6,000,000.
Tiger Woods has hit three holes-in-one during his PGA Tour career, none on a par 4.
“The greatest golfer of all time and I’ve done something he didn’t do, so that’s something I can brag about for the rest of my life,” Maddux said.
Maddux swung plastic Fisher Price clubs when he was 2 or 3. His first legitimate round of golf came when he was 5 at Presidio Hills Golf Course. He got a par on the first hole. He has been golfing regularly since he was 12.
As is custom, Maddux treated those around him to drinks after the round. Seeing as how the seven of the team are far south of legal drinking age, they stopped at Chipotle and Maddux footed the bill for soft drinks.
Cost: $21
An ace for an adult can be far more expensive. An employee at one of San Diego County’s most exclusive private clubs said that the tab for a hole-in-one can push $1,500 depending on the number of people in the clubhouse.
“Wow,” Maddux said. “I got off cheap.”
One week after his memorable ace, Yossem returned to Torrey Pines North for a dual match against La Jolla. He stepped to the No. 7 tee, broke out his range finder, measured it again near 290 yards, pulled out his driver and let fly another right to left draw.
As he was a week ago, Paul Yossem stood behind the green. This time he eyed the ball the entire way. And there it was again, tracking toward the stick.
“Unbelievable,” said Paul, who has hit three holes-in-one. “I saw the ball land and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s going to go in again.’”
The ball stopped about 18 inches short. Maddux sank the putt for an eagle. In his last two rounds at Torrey Pines North, Maddux has played the par-4 No. 7 hole in 5-under par.
“I just seem to hit a good driver there,” he said.
Asked what he’d have done had the shot gone in for his second straight ace on the hole, Maddux paused, then said, “I have no clue. I probably would have ran up to the hole screaming.”
By the numbers
50,000: Approximate holes-in-one per year in the United States
1 in 12,500: Odds of an average golfer hitting a hole-in-one
1 in 3,000: Odds of a PGA Tour player hitting a hole-in-one
1 in 6,000,000: Odds of a hole-in-one on a par-4 hole
24: Average years of playing golf before making an ace
16: Percent of holes-in-one made by women
17,000,000 to 1: Odds of two players in the same foursome making a hole in one on the same hole
— Source: National Hole in One Registry
