Kiwi golfers shoot a pair of aces to become the 17 million-to-one men
The odds of getting a hole-in-one, according to the US Hole-In-One Registry, are 12,000-to-one.
The odds of two players from the same foursome acing the same hole are 17 million-to-one.
The odds of doing just that, with a ‘‘ good golfing buddy’’, while living with the ongoing effects of Thalidomide are ‘‘even huger’’.
Ged Gordon has beaten those odds. He always has.
Gordon thinks he’s about one of nine living New Zealanders – ‘‘there may be a few more’’ – who were adversely impacted by Thalidomide.
It was a drug given to pregnant women around the world in the late 50s and early 60s to deal with morning sickness. It resulted in severe birth defects, deaths of young babies, and payouts to those who survived totalling hundreds of millions.
‘‘They call us ‘Thalidomide survivors’. We were victims ... but I wouldn’t call myself a victim,’’ Gordon says. ‘‘ I’m pretty normal. I try to be normal, but it’s other people who let me know that I’m not. When I look in the mirror I see a normal person.’’
Gordon’s hands, arms and fingers were affected by the drug. He has the use of two fingers on each hand and so modified his grip for his golf game. But that’s normal to him. He doesn’t see his deformity as something that holds him back.
‘‘You learn to get through it. The happier you are and the more you don’t worry about it, neither does anyone else.’’
The 58-year-old was born in Hamilton, grew up in Auckland and at 17 moved to Hawke’s Bay, wanting to pursue a career in farming. But he was told no. Then he tried to become a horticulture cadet. Again, he was told no.
‘‘People look at you and think ‘you can’t do it’,’’ he said.
But he can, and he does, both in his work life – he now drives diggers – and in sport.
‘‘ I’ve always been sporty, I never thought I couldn’t do anything – except for 10 pin bowling – I don’t have enough fingers to put in the holes,’’ he laughed.
He’s now a proud Waiheke resident. He moved there 20 years ago and was drawn to the ‘‘fantastic, laid-back’’ Waiheke Golf Club. He’s been a member for 19 years and plays off a 20 handicap.
‘‘ With golf, I never thought I couldn’t play,’’ he said.
A few weeks ago on a ‘‘beautiful but windy’’ day, Gordon and his mate Steve Connon – along with two others – were playing in the Waiheke Golf Club championship when they took to the tee on the 8th, 138-metre ‘‘funny hole’’, where golfers have to clear a creek to reach the green.
It was their third hole of the day.
Gordon stepped up first. He pulled out his club, lined up the shot, then, whack! Straight in the hole.
‘‘Embarrassingly enough [I used] a driver. The aim of the hole is to get the bloody ball over [the creek] then worry about where it lands.’’
It was his first ever hole- inone. ‘‘It was unbelievable. It was so exciting. Your whole nerves inside you are fizzing.’’
After the ball found the cup, there were high-fives all around, and then Connon stepped up with a five wood, and repeated the incredible feat. It was his first ace, too.
‘‘ I was a bit dumbfounded,’’ Connon said. ‘‘My eyesight’s not great. I saw [ the ball] hit the ground and then I said to the guys ‘where did the ball go?’. They were jumping up and down.
‘‘It never looked like missing. I’m still pretty stunned.’’
‘‘He took all the glory off me!’’ Gordon added. ‘‘We were a little bit numb because we were wondering if that has ever happened before. I still get excited now thinking about it.’’
The duo, who were ‘‘laughing and carrying on’’, continued the round and ‘‘ played even better’’ after the aces, Connon said.
Gordon ended up winning and is playing in the finals today.
‘‘If anyone’s going to beat me, I don’t mind that it’s Ged,’’ Connon said. ‘‘He’s a very determined man … I wouldn’t tell him he can’t do things. It just makes him more determined.’’
Gordon has already won the stroke play championship this year, and is looking to make it a double. He won last year too and attended the ‘‘Champions of Champions’’ competition in Auckland where he won his grade. It was the ‘‘ highlight’’ of his golfing life, before getting the ace. ‘‘ There’s nothing more satisfying than beating your normal, average person.’’
Tradition dictates the golfer who shot the hole- in- one is to shout a round at the clubhouse – instead it was the club that put in two rounds to celebrate.
Gordon always said he’d hang up his clubs for good if he got an ace, but he thought ‘‘nah, bugger it’’ and is now chasing a second. ‘‘You never know!’’ he said. ‘‘The pressure’s on every time I get to that hole now.’’
Gordon jokingly said he’s not allowed to talk about the hole-inone any more, but his and Connon’s grand feat will live on in club folklore forever more.
‘‘He’s a very determined man . . . I wouldn’t tell him he can’t do things. It just makes him more determined.’’ Steve Connon, above right, on his golfing buddy Ged Gordon