Greenwood’s John Hallstrom recorded his first hole-in-one on hole # 2 at the Kettle Valley Golf Course (KVGC) on May 3rd. when he was out for a round with his brother Bud and friend Ed Smith.
Hallstrom told the Times he’s been golfing for 35 years. Now 59, he retired from the Ministry of Forests four years ago.
He’s been a member of the Kettle Valley Golf Course since Greenwood’s Porter Creek course shut down. He says he golfs about 50 times a year, mostly at KVGC but at other places as well.
“Normally one of the things that happens when a person gets a hole in one is they have to buy a round for the house,” explained Hallstrom. “But when I went into the clubhouse the only guy there was Aaron and he was working so I got lucky.
“It cost me a lunch for Ed Smith and my brother and then Merry was gracious enough to buy me lunch on behalf of the KVGC.”
When asked to explain the allure of the game Hallstrom said it is a healthy sport, a clean sport and, “you are not going to get your head broken or anything like that. You go out and hit two or three bad shots and you sort of wonder why am I out here? And then you hit one absolutely perfectly.”
“That’s what we all strive for is consistency right? That’s the difference between me and Tiger Woods – he’s just a little more consistent.”
He said he didn’t know the shot went in because of the way # 2 is laid out.
“The guys I was golfing with had a pretty good idea because it hit straight at the flag, but because the flag stick was right at the back of the green you couldn’t actually see it roll into the hole. But Ed figured it was rolling towards the hole.
“When we got up there it wasn’t on the green so I just assumed it went over. But Ed walked up there and said – nope there it is.”
“It’s just a rare, rare thing that doesn’t happen to many golfers – I was lucky that it happened to me.”
The Kettle Valley Golf Course has treated the Hallstrom family well. Two years ago John’s nephew Devin Hallstrom hit an albatross, which is three under par. He did it on hole #5 - the longest hole on the course.