Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Chavez provides leadership for Lions
FORT SMITH — After finishing his follow-through and putting together a good drive off the tee, University of Arkansas at Fort Smith golfer Jaden Chavez had a problem. Despite hitting what he felt was a good shot, he couldn’t find his golf ball.
Not being able to locate your shot is usually not a good feeling in golf. But it turned out pretty well for Chavez. The ball was hiding alright. It was in the cup for a hole-in-one on the par-4, 354-yard No. 15 hole.
“It was a total shock to hit that in,” Chavez said with a laugh. “I hit it, and it somehow was in the hole. Being so far back, I didn’t see it go in. I was just walking toward the cup looking for my ball because I didn’t see it on the green. When I finally located it about 10 feet away, I could see it still in the hole because it didn’t go all the way down.”
Chavez didn’t do anything too special to get his eighth hole-in-one in his young career. Just as he does when he approaches any shot, he takes one practice swing. Chavez then finds a line between the ball and the hole to set his target. He takes a few glances at that target then fires away.
It turned out pretty well for him with the hole-in-one to start the final round at the RMAC Preview in El Paso, Texas. The ball landed left of the tight pin location. The ball hit with a draw, landed on the green then kicked to the right and rolled about 30 yards into the cup to make the improbable shot.
In his previous round on that hole, he was able to drive the ball to within 15 feet of the cup. Despite the earlier success on the hole, Chavez had zero thoughts of sinking
his drive from more than 350 yards away.
“It honestly wasn’t even in my head,” Chavez said. “I was trying to hit a good shot. It worked out for me I guess.”
The sophomore saved the ball of course, but he hasn’t found a special place for it just yet. It is still in his golf bag. Never tell him the odds. He has beaten them quite a bit in his playing career, and he did so in a big way with that drive.
The probability of a holeinone, typically made on par-3 holes, is projected to be 12,500 to 1. It is estimated that the odds for an albatross, either a par-4 hole-in-one or finishing a par-5 in two shots, to happen is one-in-six million. Make it just a hole-inone albatross and the odds go even higher. The probability of being struck by lightning, finding a four- leaf clover, bowling a perfect game and living to be 100 years old all individually have a higher chance to happen than making a double eagle.
It took current No. 1 golfer in the world Rory McIlroy more than 500 competitive rounds to finally get his first professional hole- in- one. Chavez has done it twice while playing for UAFS with his other coming on a par-3 when the Lions hosted the Hardscrabble Invitational earlier this year.
Chavez said the key is pretty simple for him to achieve what is the life goal of any golfer with scoring an ace: being very, very fortunate.
“I guess I’m just lucky,” Chavez said. “That’s just what hole- in- ones are about for the most part. Despite having quite a few, there is never a time when I thought I was trying to sink my shot. You just focus on putting a good shot together, and it happens.”
The hole- in- one was a complete shock to UAFS sophomore Jeremy Tandoy who played the No. 15 hole pretty well himself. He found the green with his driver and was within a few feet of the cup. He was feeling pretty good until he learned how well Chavez did on the hole.
“This guy had to oneup me,” Tandoy said with a laugh looking at Chavez. “I was walking to the hole and saw my ball was about 5 feet from the hole. I told myself, wow that is a really good shot. I thought to myself, give me another 100 shots and I’m not getting any closer than that. Then I marked the ball, and one of the coaches was waving his arms at me. He was trying to tell me Jaden’s ball went in the hole. I couldn’t believe it, but I made sure I made my shot after that.”
It didn’t take long for word to get back to UAFS golf coach Daniel Hayden, who has two aces of his own. His phone lit up from messages in the player’s group chat, which he rarely gets when the team is out on the course playing a round.
“I didn’t get to see it myself, but I heard about it pretty quickly,” Hayden said with a laugh. “I got a text about it. You never anticipate it, but it was a hole we wanted to be aggressive with in our rounds. I’ve been lucky enough to see a bunch of hole-in-ones over the years and many from our program. It seems like we have one a year each year I’ve been here. But it never gets old when it happens. It’s always special. But an ace on a par-4 is just ridiculous.”
The success from Chavez and Tandoy on No. 15 hole showed sparks of how good the team can be at times, but it hasn’t gone the Lions’ way just yet this season. UAFS placed 12th in the tournament to finish off the fall portion of its season. Tandoy, just as he has all season, led the way for the Lions finishing 16th with a 151 (+7), while Jaden Chavez placed 36th overall with his 156 (+12).
It wasn’t the first half of the season the Lions had hoped for with a highest team placement of 10th in their initial four events that they were able to finish. But they can point back to a hole-in-one and a 5-foot putt for eagle to show they have the talent required to hang with anyone.
“The guys know it’s a cliche to trust the process of grinding to get better, but that’s how you make it happen,” Hayden said. “Our average score from this time last year is four shots better, but the team’s success just hasn’t been there yet. We are just waiting for the big steps to happen. And when it happens, it won’t be us finishing fourth or fifth. It will be with us having a legit chance of winning. It will shock everyone besides us. We expect it to happen, and it’s just a matter of time. It will be so neat because it has taken some time, but they will have earned it when they do put it together.”
The Lions will start their second half of the season in February or March of next year. After the progress Chavez has seen, he is excited for the future with the team having some time off to improve.
“I think we are close to putting it all together,” Chavez said. “We are all really talented. When we go against the best teams, I don’t feel anyone’s better than us. We feel like we can play with anyone out there. They are shooting better scores, so we are trying to do that as well more consistently.”
One of the biggest contributing factors in the program making strides to get better is the partnership with Hardscrabble Country Club. That is where the Lions are always working on their craft at the premiere course that has hosted many professional tournaments over the years.
“It’s everything,” Hayden said of the golf course. “If we didn’t have this facility, these players would be gone tomorrow if anything happens to this place. It’s that important to our program. It’s not a knock to any other golf course, but we get spoiled with what we have out here. The conditions are always perfect. The members have gotten to know us and have been a part of supporting us. It’s really special being able to call this place home to our program.”
Tandoy, who has two holein-ones in his career, has taken his game to another level this season. He was third at +5 on the team last year but has made many strides and now leads the team in scoring with a +2 over his nine rounds to start the season. It’s been a long, winding road for Tandoy to make his improvements, but it’s a journey worth taking as he has battled mental obstacles to better his game.
“The biggest change to this season has been mental,” Tandoy said. “I feel like my game has been there. But the confidence hasn’t always been there. It was terrible for a while. Golf can be brutal and show you all your weaknesses. You face a lot of mental battles. It’s been a grind.”
Hayden and Tandoy sat down and put together a plan to improve over the summer break. It’s been working out for Tandoy. He has the lowest round of the season so far for the Lions, a 70 (-2) at the RJGA South Central Shootout.
Andrew Fakult (Rogers), Alexander Apolskis (Bentonville), Preston Green (Bentonville), Case Englehart, Lucky Boonsrirat and Conner Guthrie (Rogers) have all played key roles this year for the Lions as well.
The addition of Chavez, whose favorite golfer is Abraham Ancer, over the last year has provided a big value on and off the course to many on the team, including Tandoy.
“He is our rock on this team,” Tandoy said. “He’s always there for us. He has a lot of knowledge, and I love picking his brain. He is my roommate, so I’m sure he gets annoyed with me. But he knows a lot about golf.”
His father Paul Chavez is a hall- of- fame coach at Odessa (Texas) College. He has coached for more than 25 years at the school and has turned it into a perennial powerhouse. The program has won more than 150 team events and won NJCAA national championships in 2004, 2005 and 2017.