ACES102507

One golfer, one round, two holes in one

A little bit of skill and a lot of luck was Rick Misencik's recipe for golf immortality.

Last update: October 24, 2007 - 10:25 AM

A little bit of skill and a lot of luck was Rick Misenciks recipe for golf immortality.

The retired postmaster from Pequot Lakes, Minn., carded two holes in one in a single round, beating odds determined in 2000 by a retired math professor hired by Golf Digest: 67 million to 1.

Misencik, who turns 57 years old Thursday, aced holes No. 2 and 13 at the Preserve at Grand View Lodge in Pequot Lakes.

Go, go, go! Misencik recalled he and his golf partners yelling that day as the ball rolled about 20 feet into the cup for his second hole in one on Oct. 12.

A fortune bounce -- his 9-iron tee shot on No. 13 from about 128 yards kicked right off a bank, Misencik said -- made the ace possible.

His first hole in one that day was a good shot [with an 8 iron from about 140 yards] that bounced within a foot of the hole, he said. One bounce and it was in.

Misenciks 18-hole score that day wasnt as satisfying as what hes used to, he said. The 10-handicap golfer who plays about 50 rounds a year shot an 88. He said he has one previous ace since he took up the game off and on starting in his 20s. That came in 1993 at Nordic Trails in Alexandria, Minn.

Tradition has it that anyone who cards an ace has to buy a round at the clubhouse bar. Misencik said he got off cheap, though, given the sparse number of golfers this time of year. He got nicked for just one beer.

PAUL WALSH