Hole-in-One Achievements

 

Longtime golfing partners make holes-in-one in same round

GREENFIELD - Known for years as the 'Tee It Up Twins,' Perley Smith and Joe Rector can now be proudly tagged with a new moniker at Greenfield Golf Club.

After all, making holes-in-one on consecutive holes warrants a nickname that aptly fits a golfing feat of the rarest kind. "I thought we can be the 'Hole-in-one Twins' too. What would be the matter with that?" laughed Rector, still on Cloud 9 after making his first ace in 14 years.

Playing a round with Bob Woodgate and Sam Eisenhauer, Smith and Rector dropped holes-in-one on Nos. 11 and 12, respectively, at the 15-hole Greenfield layout. "It's almost unbelievable," said Smith. "I never heard tell of it before back-to-back. It was a nice feeling. It was a nice feeling Joe got one, I was glad for him."

Smith, a 69-year-old Salmon River resident, made his ace from 88 yards with a 9-iron. It was his second hole-in-one in nine years playing golf. He made one in 2005, also at Greenfield. "It come down about 18 inches (away from the hole) and hit and bounced in. It just went one bounce and it was in," said Smith, who plays to a 16 handicap.

Not to be outdone, Rector, a 79-year-old from Princeton Heights, stepped up to the next hole and knocked in a 9-iron from 66 yards. The ball leaned against the pin for a brief period, before disappearing to the bottom of the cup. "I was kind of excited and I was excited for Perley, too," said Rector, whose handicap is 22.

What makes their accomplishment even more special is the fact that Smith - a retired barber - and Rector - a retired cook - have been friends for more than 50 years and longtime golfing partners. It was Rector who introduced Smith to the game, and the duo have been inseparable on the course ever since.

"He was after me, and he said as soon as you retire you've got to start golfing," recalled Smith. "And I thought I'd just go out with him a few times. But I got hooked on it, and at first we were going seven days a week, but we got it cut back now to five days a week." Golf Digest puts the odds of an average golfer scoring a hole-in-one at 12,000 to 1, while the odds of two players from the same foursome making an ace on the same hole are 17,000,000 to 1. What Smith and Rector did falls somewhere in between.

"Well I guess that's pretty thrilling, and I stick my chest out a little further and pretend I'm the big shot," joked Rector. It's long been tradition in golf that the player who makes a hole-in-one buys drinks after the round. So, who bought the beer on this day? "We didn't hit that tradition, and after all, I don't drink beer, so what about me?" Rector laughed.

News of the aces spread quickly at the club, and owner Bill Spinney said he and fellow members couldn't have been happier for duo. "They're good guys," Spinney said. "They're here every morning at 7:30, 8 o-clock, even in the rain they play ... I was quite pleased."