THE 13th hole at Windsor Golf Club has been nothing but lucky for club members, after Ray Oakley became the second player to record a hole-in-one in just over two months there.
Oakley, of Baulkham Hills, recorded his on July 1, after fellow club member Lorna O’Brien recorded one there on April 26.
Oakley said he was convinced his mates were having a lend of him, when they said his ball had found the hole.
‘‘All my mates were pretty excited and they were very pleased for me. There were three of us together,’’ he said.
‘‘One of the guys said to me you’ve got it in the hole and I didn’t believe him. But then when we got there, there it was.
‘‘I didn’t see it go in and it is such an unusual occurrence so you don’t think it is going to happen.’’
Oakley said it was a great feeling when he realised what had happened. ‘‘I was pretty chuffed. I hit the ball and it went about three-foot off the ground the entire way,’’ he said.
‘‘I thought it had gone into the bunker when in fact it had gone into a shady area near the bunker.
‘‘They usually set up the hole so it is fairly difficult to get a hole-in-one. It is probably the easiest of the par three holes, along with the seventh hole. It is not a long hole by any means.’’
Oakley, 72, said he was an avid golfer, and had one other hole-in-one, at Cammeray Golf Club, about 40 years ago.
‘‘I’m retired and I play once a week on Wednesday with the same guys,’’ he said.
‘‘I would have joined Windsor about 1987 or ’88. I was playing before then too. The kids reared their ugly heads and family became the most important thing for a time but I’m back at it now. In the last year or so I was playing twice a week but I cut it back to one day. You’ve got to look after the body."
