Friendly advice results in ace at River’s Edge

Mike (Kato) Tomiyama scored an ace with a little help from his friends.

Tomiyama reunited with a crew of former co-workers turned longtime pals for a round at River’s Edge in Okotoks. He was planning to swing his gap wedge on the 105-yard sixth hole, but with the breeze into their teeth, his chums convinced him he’d need a bit more stick. Good advice, gents.

They talked Tomiyama into hitting a pitching wedge, and he was begging his ball to bite when it landed softly about a foot short of the target and one-hopped into the cup. High-fives all around.

Ann MacKenna will have to count any future aces on her opposite hand. MacKenna notched her fifth career hole-in-one on No. 12 at Cottonwood, not only finding safety on the island green but making a splash of another sort by draining her tee-ball from 106 yards away.

The witnesses for the sweet shot — a nifty 9-iron — included Hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster Peter Maher, the longtime radio voice of the Calgary Flames.

Ken Givens is $5,000 richer — minus the cost of the clubhouse celebrations, of course — after carding a hole-in-one during the Calgary Senior Oilmen’s Golf Tournament at D’Arcy Ranch. The lefty swatted a 7-iron on No. 12 and was spot-on from 151 yards away.

Also at D’Arcy Ranch, Bob Fougere finished the third hole with one whack of a 9-iron from the 135-yard decks, while Dave Stretz found the flagstick on No. 14, which measures 144 yards. Stretz also had a 9-iron in his hands for his special moment.

After nearly six decades of trying, Don McMurray finally has an ace to boast about. McMurray, a former member of Redwood Meadows and The Glencoe and now hanging his hat in Mill Bay, B.C., achieved the feat on No. 15 at gorgeous Greywolf, where he launched a 9-iron over the pond and then made the 108-yard commute to retrieve his ball from the bottom of the cup.

Kevin Hinz completed his personal hole-in-one hat-trick, with his latest a precise pitching wedge on the 144-yard eighth hole on the Raven Course at Priddis Greens. On that same setup at the 36-hole private facility, Doug Westersund made short work of the third test with a smooth 7-iron from 195 yards out.

The ninth hole on the Hawk Course at Priddis Greens is a downhill dandy, so Bill Chisholm would have been treated to a superb view of his ace — a flawless 3-wood from 193 yards away.

Robert Horen will be saying only good things about his five-hybrid, his weapon of choice for a 157yard memory-maker on No. 14 at Sirocco.

C.B. Chan was one-and-done on the eighth hole at Pinebrook, right on target with a 7-iron from 145 yards out.

J.D. Choe skipped the putting portion on the fifth at Hamptons, instead completing the 143-yard challenge with one swing of his trusty seven-wood.

Also at Hamptons, Arman Dhillon picked a perfect line with a pitching wedge on No. 10, which measures 145 yards.

David Nelner scored bragging rights with a 143-yard ace on the third hole of The Glencoe’s Bridges Nine.