Hole-in-one makes former editor’s day
Wanganui Golf Club’s John Maslin has broken many a scoop in his time, but the former editor became the newsmaker himself at the Belmont Links course on Saturday.
Maslin sunk the first hole-in-one of his career during the club championship qualifiers on the 9th Hole, a Par 3 of around 118-120m from the blue tees, with the tee around the centre of the green.
“It’s a green that’s surrounded by a heck of a lot of bunkers around it so you’d rather be on it than off it,” Maslin assessed as he used his 8 iron club.
“It landed on the front apron, and then bounced twice, and then rolled. Probably about another 10ft.”
One of his playing foursome began to commentate on the ball’s progress with a increasingly raised voice.
“[He] kept saying, ‘this looks good, this is going in, this is going in, this is going in’,” Maslin recalled.
“A lot of shouting and yelling on the tee as a result.
“Threw my club up in the air, which is probably a dumb thing to do because I nearly threw it over the bank.
“Frankly I was dumbfounded. You probably always want to do it, but it was just one of those shots.
“I just played a perfect shot actually, it was straight off the bat and just went so straight.
“Pretty to watch, even if I say so myself.”
Maslin said he has only been playing the game seriously for the last 2-3 years since his retirement from fulltime work at this newspaper.
As is tradition, he put up a bar tab back at the clubhouse, but was relieved that some of the more “seasoned drinkers” were still out on the course.
“I think every guy in the foursome, apart from me, had done that trick at some stage during their golfing playing days.
“Pete Wallis [club captain] grabbed the ball after my round and so the club’s going to get it mounted.
“A couple of weeks later I’ll pick it up, so that’ll be a lovely little memento.”
Maslin’s ace was the fifth in the greater Whanganui region this year and the first at Belmont.