Unless your name is Rory McIlroy, Nathan Spoon-Kanner has probably had a better past month-and-a-half of golf than you have. Spoon-Kanner, a 22-year-old student from California, drained a hole-in-one at Casserly Golf Course in Watsonville, Cali. on Monday. You could say the perfect shot was business as usual.
Spoon-Kanner’s hole-in-one was his third — that’s right, third — in the past 45 days. His first was an 88-yard shot (that’s a pretty short par-3) with a pitching wedge on June 29. His second was a 180-yard hybrid shot on Aug. 4 and the one he sunk Monday was a 112-yard shot with a nine iron.
Despite the incredible recent success, Spoon-Kanner told The Santa Cruz Sentinel that he isn’t a particularly good golfer.
“I’m nothing more than an average golfer,” he said. “I’m just teeing in on the greens. It’s a pretty amazing feeling.”
Spoon-Kanner’s handicap is nine and he has been playing since he was 2, so he’s a little better than average. All of his aces had witnesses, including his buddy Quinn Sanberg who was there for all three.
“I was there all three times,” Sanberg said. “It was like an out-of-body experience just watching them. He’s starting to make it look easy now.”
Gold Digest once estimated that the odds of an amateur golfer hitting a hole-in-one are 12,500:1. If you want to do the math on what the odds are of draining three aces in a lifetime let alone three in less than two months, be my guest. Most avid golfers will never make a hole-in-one in their entire lives.
So what’s the secret? Spoon-Kanner, who had surgery on both his knees after playing baseball for years, said the golf course is a place where he can just relax.
“When I’m out there, it’s all mind and spirit,” he explained. “It’s more than ball and club and putting the ball in the hole. I am thankful to be somewhat healthy and pain-free. I went through a lot with surgery. It was a long-haul recovery. I think I am being rewarded. I still have pain. I’m still recovering.”
One hole-in-one would constitute being rewarded. Three is simply incredible.
H/T Eye on Golf
