An Aorangi golfer has completed a feat deemed harder and rarer than a hole in one.
Earlier this month Timaru Golf Club member Angela Gerken birdied every par-3 hole (four in total) at the Timaru Golf Course at Levels.
She said in a normal round at the course she would usually only birdie one of the par-3 holes.
‘‘I chipped one in on [hole] 12 and then on 15 I ended up getting another two and I said to the ladies I was playing with that it was the first time in a round I’d ever had two twos.
‘‘I didn’t really think much more of it but then on No 4 I had this massive putt to sink and before I did one of the ladies said ‘oh, the way you’ve been putting today I’m sure you’ll get that one’ and it happened.
‘‘Then we got to hole No 6, the last par-3 of the course and the lady who was marking my card had already half circled hole No 6 because she got 4 and 6 mixed up. Before I teed off she goes ‘Ange, you know what you have to do now’ and I went ‘yep, no pressure’.’’
As the ball left the tee, Gerken said she actually thought she might be in for her first hole in one.
‘‘The tee shot was right on target . . .but when it landed it broke off to the left of the hole, which was about half a metre past and then everything went silent.
‘‘Normally we say ‘good luck’ when someone is going for a birdie putt, but this was just silent — nothing. They waited for me to see if I got it and then there was just excitement and cheer.’’
She said it was a potential first-time feat at the course.
‘‘I just entered the ladies comp but I waited at the clubhouse for the men’s results and everyone was applauding me and cheering. A lot of people came up and shook my hand, gave me high-fives and all sorts.
‘‘As I went to leave, the [club] president came up and called me a freak, in a good way, and he goes ‘I’ve never heard of anything like this before, it’s that rare, you’re probably the first person in New Zealand to do it’.
‘‘A lot of other people think you’re more likely to get a hole in one or win Lotto than what I did.’’
The feat added to an already impressive golfing year for Gerken.
‘‘These past three years I’d been trying to win the New Zealand amateur championships and I did that this Easter. The previous two years I’d lost by one shot whereas this year I won by 17.
‘‘This is probably right up there for achievements, you set yourself goals and now the only thing really left to achieve is to get that hole in one.’’
Gerken plays off a two handicap.
