I have been playing golf for roughly 25 years (started around 4-5, 29 currently) and have always been chasing that elusive first ace. Me and my two brothers are very competitive and all played Division 1 college golf. Any time anyone would ask my handicap and I’d tell them +2 or whatever it was at the time, a frequent follow up question was how many holes in one do you have? I always had to answer that question with “none but hopefully one will come some day.” When you take some time to think about it, at least for me, I started to think that no matter how many good shots you hit, you need a little help/luck to have everything align for the ball to drop. This golf season has been undoubtedly unique given the current circumstances and golf is something that has provided me and my family with some hope of a return to normalcy. This was my fourth round of the year and I was meeting my two brothers and Dad at the course for a nice early 7:00 tee time on a crisp Saturday morning. We are a very close knit family who very much so enjoys when our schedules all align to where we can play as a foursome. With the combination of a nice crisp sunny morning, one of my first rounds of the year and having the opportunity to play with my Dad and brothers I was especially excited for this round. I talk to my late mother in prayer every day since her passing 10 years ago and the ride to the golf course that morning was no different. I was telling her how excited I was for the round and said to her it would be cool if someone got a hole in one, preferably my Dad, who is without one but with a rekindled passion for the game has started to play more golf the past few years. The round was very typical for the first 11 holes with some good swings and shots and some poor ones but plenty of laughs and jabs. We got to the 165 yard 12th hole which plays downhill to a somewhat narrow green with a pin on the back of the green today. My little brother Brett teed off first and hit a nice shot that looked really good in the air but ended up about 8 feet from the pin. He gave me a great visual and proxy for choosing to swing a smooth 9 iron which I would hope would yield a similar result. I got lined up and told myself to put a nice smooth swing on it. I put a great swing on it but as soon as I made contact and saw the initial flight, I was fearful I gave it a little too much and would be long if the back pin and go over the green. As I was screaming at the ball to get down, my twin brother Brandon said, “that’s going in.” The ball never left the flag and once it descended and landed about 7 feet past the hole, we all went silent as it began to spin back toward the hole. The moment the ball dropped was as surreal and exciting as I had hoped and expected it would be. All of my practice celebrations went out the window and I did the typical “it went in!!” throw the arms up in the air and laugh/scream as I ran around in circles on the tee box. I videotaped the walk up to the hole so I can hold into that memory for as long as I can. One of my greatest golf desires was naturally to get a hole in one, but I so badly wanted it to come when I was playing with my family. I have no doubt my late Mom helped all of these things come together into a memory I will cherish forever. Thankfully the pin was in the back of the green which meant a yellow flag was used to make that indication rather than white or red. Yellow was my Mom’s favorite color and it perfectly added to what was already a perfect set of circumstances. My 718 AP2 9 iron hit the Titleist #2 (my favorite # ball to use too) ProV1x into the hole. Thanks for the great equipment!