The world works in mysterious ways – just ask Matt Jackson who nailed his first hole in one at the Armidale Golf Club on New Year’s Day.
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With the tee box forward, an eight iron in hand and a breeze behind his back, Jackson stepped up to the 12th tee to take his shot.
“I hit it and it started going straight and all the boys – no one said a word,” Jackson recalled.
“Then all of a sudden, it slammed dunked the hole. Everyone was pretty loud after that.”
Jackson – who usually hits off six – claimed the $2000 jackpot in the process but it came close to not being.
To be eligible for the hole in one jackpot, a player has to put $2 into the pot before their round – something Jackson always does – but the round has to be played in competition.
“I played with my housemates and when we decided to play yesterday, we were just going to have a social hit,” Jackson told Fairfax Media on Tuesday.
“I talked the boys into playing in the comp, I said ‘we better play in the comp so we try a bit harder’ and I’m glad I did.”
After a number of near misses attempting to hit an elusive ace, Jackson didn’t think he would ever enter the elite group.
“I’ve had a couple that have been close before but I never thought I’d get one,” Jackson said.
“I’ve had a couple hit the pin and wound up within 30 centimetres of the hole.”
While some would set up shop and bask in the glory of a hole in one, Jackson has no plans of slowing down.
“I never thought I’d get one but now I’m hungry to get another one,” he said.
He’s under no illusions, though. Jackson said it’ll be hard to beat that feeling he had on Monday.
“It was a pretty good start [to the year], it can only go downhill from here,” he joked.
The hole in one also resulted in Jackson breaking a mini-resolution for 2018.
“I’ve had a big December and said I wasn't going to drink for the first two weeks in January,” Jackson said.
“After the hole in one, one of the boys said ‘the world doesn't want you to stop drinking’ and we had a couple.”
The hole in one continues a hot run at the course for aces. Kevin Marshall from the Armidale Golf Club Pro Shop said there had been roughly seven hole in ones in the past three years.
“There has been a few,” Jackson said.
“It’s a credit to the greenskeeper [Brett Woodward]. The Armidale Golf Club is immaculate. The greens and fairways are fantastic.”
Jackson also said the Armidale club and pro shop – headed by Andrew Walkley – do a great job.