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Near ace: When a hole-in-one really isn't

From the “golf is a crazy game” files comes a story from Rick Berry of Janesville.

Berry, Riverside Men’s Golf Association president, has seen his share of wild bounces in 37 years of playing golf. However, he can put his recent experience right at the top of his list of bizarre shots.

Playing with Steve Gelbach last Saturday at Riverside, Berry teed up on No. 13 and proceeded to poke his drive to the left.

“It was not a very good drive,” Berry said. “I pulled it into the trees.’’

After bouncing off a tree, Berry’s errant tee shot rolled onto the ninth green, where three unsuspecting juniors were putting. The ball rolled between the teens and dropped into the cup—for a so-called hole-in-one.

“The kids thought it was the most amazing thing they ever saw,’’ said Berry a packaging engineer at Cummins Filtration in Stoughton. “The ball rolled right into the hole.’’

Jake Welch, Gilberto Enriquez and Dustin Smith were taking pictures of the ball when Berry and Gelbach arrived. The boys asked Berry if their names were going to make the newspaper.

Turns out, they get their wish.

Berry, who has had a pair of genuine holes-in-one, could not claim the uncanny shot as a hole-in-one, however.

Mike Reid, an assistant to Riverside pro Tom Tautges, said if Berry had been playing in the city tournament, he would have had to lift the ball out of the hole and place it no closer to the pin on 13.

“His only option would be to place the ball to the back of No. 9,’’ Reid said.

Berry got his first ace on June 30, 1996, on No. 2 at Blackhawk and his second was exactly four years later on June 30, 2000, at No. 12 at Riverside.

“That is exciting,’’ Berry said of making a hole-in-one. “It kind of takes your breath away, and you feel numb.’’

Some golf shots make you numb and others bewildered.