On Monday May 15th, The Springs golf course in Radium hosted a mini tour event for local golf professionals and tour sponsors. For one foursome, it was an incredibly fortuitous round as both a hole-in-one and an albatross (or double eagle, three under par on one hole) were scored.
On the par 5 ninth hole, Copper Point teaching professional and Akisqnuk First Nation member Bryan Armstrong hit a 5 iron from 201 yards on his second shot. He didn’t need to putt, scoring a deuce on the hole. The odds of making an albatross are estimated at six million-to-one.
To add to the excitement, later in the round PGA of Canada professional Doug Schneider stood on the tee of the picturesque par 3 17th hole with a gap wedge in hand. With the assistance of a brisk south breeze, Mr Schneider launched his shot toward his target, 134 yards away, where it one-hopped into the hole.
After the ball disappeared, the four golf pros, including Trevor Simkins and Michael Midyette, engaged in what was described as “this very loud jump-huggy thing”. The odds of having both an albatross and a hole-in-one scored in the same round by different members of a foursome is approximately 1-in-4.5 trillion.
Winner of the event was Copper Point general manager Brian Schaal, who shot a 4-under 68 without making either a hole-in-one or an albatross.
The next mini tour event is scheduled for June 24th at the St. Eugene Mission golf course just outside of Cranbrook. Local pros will also be competing in a season long match play event.