Naples man hits pair of aces – on the same hole

ROGER Craycraft made an ace on Christmas Eve at Hammock Bay at The Members Club at Marco, but a few holes later, he hit the ball he used in the water and lost it.

days later.

Craycraft, a 71-year-old from Lexington, Kentucky, got up on the same hole, - other hole-in-one.

“My wife wasn’t with me that day,” Craycraft said Tuesday. “I sent her a video and she said ‘ I don’t believe it. You’re not excited enough.’ One of my sons even said ‘ Fake news.’ It’s not really fake news. It’s one of those really, really rare things. It’s just sort of a random occurrence.

“It’s been a lot of fun. It’s unusual. It’s been fun to tell people.”

Craycraft, a 7 handicap, now has eight holes-in-one.

On Christmas Eve, Craycraft and his wife Carla were playing their usual couples morning round with Dave and playing 157 yards that day, and Craycraft pulled out a 6-iron. The green slants from right to left and there’s water to the left, so Craycraft played his shot to the right part of the green.

“My natural ball flight is kind of a little draw,” he said. “It just hit and rolled down the hill toward the flag. I could see it. You want to be absolutely certain it went in. You might go up there and it’s not in the hole. I said ‘ I think I saw it go in.’ Vicki said ‘Are you sure it went in?’ I said ‘ I’m not positive.’”

When the group got up there, it was in. Craycraft went on to bogey the next four holes, including one when he hit the hole-in-one ball in the water.

Two days later, Craycraft was playing with Bob Stanley, Ray Underwood 7, which was playing 172 yards so Craycraft hit a 4- iron.

“I hit a good shot,” he said. “The pin was in such a place that you could not see the hole. I thought it was a good shot and I didn’t think anymore about it. We got to the green and I saw three balls. I knew those weren’t mine.”

Craycraft told his partners the ball must have gone over the green and in the water, but Underwood said he didn’t think so.

“Well let me know if I need to have a wedge,” Craycraft told him.

Underwood walked up to the hole. “It’s in there,” he said.

“At that point, I’m in shock, because things like that just don’t happen,” said 2005. “They do happen; they’re just so rare it’s like they don’t happen.”

This time, Craycraft smartly took the ball out of play. Then he went birdie-parbirdie on the next three holes.

So how does it feel to have eight holesin-one?

“I’ve had my share,” he said. “I’d be the first to tell you when it goes in the hole, it’s luck. It helps to hit a good shot. I’ve seen holes- in- one that weren’t good shots and I’ve seen a lot of good shots that didn’t go in. It’s rare. Today I was playing with four guys, one of the guys hit a shot on a par 3 and one bounce, hit the flagstick. It was a great shot, but it didn’t go in.”

Craycraft’s did. Twice. On the same hole. Two days apart.