Started playing golf as a kid, played high school and college golf, worked as a golf course writer and reviewer, played hundreds of rounds. Love the game. Once had a double eagle, but never an ace… until Monday, August 26, 2024 while playing an afternoon round at Lakota Links in New Castle, Colorado. Stunning links style course, beautiful views, lots of elevation dynamics, some really tough holes. I hadn’t played golf in a few years, but sure glad I did yesterday. Drilled the hole-in-one on the challenging 9th hole, par three, about 140 yards with my lucky 8-iron, shooting a titleist tour soft. Wasn’t super excited about shooting an 88, but it’s dangerously easy to have a few tough holes the first time (or any time) playing at that course.