May 7 was a typical practice day for the Pleasanton Middle School golf team at the Fairgrounds Golf Course, but one of the Panthers, Sierra Saucier, got a surprise visit from the “golf gods” and scored a hole-in-one. All six girls and six boys on the team were spread out on various holes, each trying to beat their course record.
Saucier is a seventh grade Panther with less course time than the rest of her teammates. She first learned of the sport when she was 10 by playing with her dad’s Xbox, and after mastering the cyber-version, picked up a real golf club for the first time in October 2005. Eighteen months later, Saucier was in a threesome with Sabrina Bodnar and Kelly Shotwell, while Panther coach Patti Bodnar walked the course with them.
Saucier stepped up to the third tee, a 118-yard par three hole, and, using her 7 iron, hit a lofty shot which landed on the edge of the green. As she and her teammates encouraged, the ball to roll toward the hole. They were amazed when just a few seconds later it disappeared into the cup.
High fives and hugs were accompanied by screams of joy as the coach and her charges were swept up in the moment. Golfers of any age consider a hole-in-one to be the ultimate accomplishment in golf, and typically demands “buying a round” for everyone. According to the United States Golf Register, the odds of making a hole-in-one for an amateur are about 33,000 to 1 on every shot, so no matter how many rounds a player has under their belt, they are statistically no closer to getting a hole-in-one than on their very first day at the links.
After Saucier’s ace, the uproar on the third hole was easily heard on the fourth green, where fellow teammate Justin Shotwell had just sunk a 20-foot putt to make an eagle two on that par four hole. On any other day, Shotwell’s golf shot would have been the talk of the clubhouse. But the “golf gods” had spoken; this day was meant for Saucier.
