It’s a hot and muggy Michigan 4th of July morning. My group approaches #14, a 148 yarder playing around 160 that day. I am with 3 of my best friends, one of which taught me how to golf after I came home from the military. Having a mediocre day, as I have not golfed much this year, I try to appreciate just being out on the course and snap a picture, commenting how picturesque this par 3 is. I am the last golfer to hit, with one ball we know is one the green. I strike my ball and could swear I was going to be short and hitting out of the front bunker. Miraculously we see the ball bounce left of the hole and I am thinking “nice, hopefully I stayed on and didn’t roll of the back” as we cannot see the pin. No thoughts of a hole-in-one from anyone, even the ranger who happened to be there. As we drive up to the green to assess our shots, I only see one ball on the green and think for sure I went long and it rolled of the back into the rough. The friend that taught me to golf is searching the green before I walk up, he lets me know it’s his ball on the green. As I turn left to search the rough, he looks at my other friend and points in the hole. I don’t think anything of it, there’s no way he could keep that cool (He wanted me to have the moment). He looks at me and points again. Ignoring it, as I continue my search, my mind was twisted, he wouldn’t play a cruel joke and lie about something like that, but in the moment I honestly didn’t know what to think as none of us expected it. Giving in, I approach the hole. I look in the hole and there it is, my Titleist ProV1 #1 with three dots in a triangle above the logo. I am shaking, words trembling, as I am tackled on to the green. To get a hole in one, on the 4th of July, with my best of friends, I don’t think it gets much better than that.