Teenagers Jackson Smith (15), of Mosgiel, and Jack Gallie (16), of Queenstown, scored a hole-in-one and an albatross respectively within a couple of hours of each other, playing in the same group at the Arrowtown Futures Open on Monday, making life-long memories for both.
It was only Jack’s second competition and he said he could not believe what happened when his second shot on the 433m par 5 1st hole at the Arrowtown Golf Club went in.
"I didn’t really expect it. I was expecting to see the ball on the green and then it disappeared.
"It took a minute for it to hit me, about what had actually happened and how rare it was.
"I kind of dropped my club and we were like, ‘Oh my God it went in’.
Jack (who plays off a 15.3 handicap) said the albatross gave him plenty of bragging rights in his family but he still did not have one over his pro golfer father, Ben Gallie, who had also scored an albatross previously.
"Yeah, lots of bragging rights.
"Dad’s scored one, which is disappointing, so I don’t have bragging rights over him, but I got them over my brother."
Jackson, whose first shot on the 153m par 3 10th hole went in, said he did get bragging rights over his father, who had never scored a hole-in-one before.
The moment was surreal when it happened.
"It just landed on top of the hill and rolled in," he said.
Jackson (who plays off a handicap of 21.6) has been playing golf for almost 10 years and playing competitively since he was 12.
"I’ve always been a keen golfer but over the last few years I’ve been getting into it a lot more and playing on Saturdays."
Golf New Zealand Otago and Southland golf development officer Byron Willis said it was rare for either one of the feats to happen and for both of them to happen in one group was pretty much unheard of.
"From my knowledge I haven’t heard of anything like this happening down here in the Otago-Southland region.
"It will completely grow their passion for the game.
"From when I spoke to them the other day they were completely over the moon and were kind of speechless."
A Golf New Zealand spokesman estimated the odds of the two feats happening in the same group in the same round to be 75 billion to one.
