He may not have walked away with a cool million, but Kyle Beaudette from Garden Village did take first place at the $1 Million Hole in One fundraiser in support of Laurentian Ski Hill.
“I qualified on Saturday, just 3 ½ inches from the hole. The convenor said the only way to beat it would be a hole in one. And sure enough playing competitor Ron Ladoucer hit a hole in one on Saturday,” laughed Beaudette.
“I’ve played with Ron a couple times and he strikes the ball pretty well. Congratulations to him too, with the only hole in one this weekend.”
When it came down to Sunday’s qualifier for the finals, Beaudette came within 9 feet, 5 inches of the hole.
Beaudette met up with Ladoucer again in the championship finals, along with Darcy Black to round out the final three.
The target was the pin on the first hole at the Pinewood.
“The winning shot that I did was 50 feet from the hole. When we shot in the semi-finals it was at 165 yards to the pin, and when we shot with the final three, the distance was 175 yards from the pin,” explained Beaudette.
“I ended up changing clubs because I hit a 7 iron from 175, but I hit an 8 iron from 165. I should have stuck with the 8 iron because I was a little long, but also when you’re playing from the 175 yards, it changes your vision to the hole. Just that slight adjustment can throw somebody off, but I tried to stay true with the shot I played out in my mind, and I ended up winning.”
What he ended up winning was a stand-up paddleboard, paddle, and PFD worth $1,000.
“I’ve never paddle boarded before. Hopefully, we’ll get some more nice weather and I can get some use out of it before the winter,” he grinned.
This was the first year for the contest to be held at the Ramada Pinewood Park. In past years it was held at Veterans Field at the overpass, over the course of five days, versus three days this year.
Work currently underway on the field was one of the reasons for the move.
Ski hill manager Cam Graham is satisfied with the way the weekend went.
“I don’t know how many people were here, but the mats were pretty full quite a bit of the time. I think overall our numbers were as good as we were doing when we were down at the overpass. So, I’m actually quite surprised,” said Graham.
“We didn’t have our major sponsor, so that had a major impact on us. We really wanted to see how this would be as a completely stand-alone event. I think we’ve proven, and I think talking to people who were here, and the success of it, that it shows that this will do fine anywhere. We can take this event anywhere, and we put on a good show. There were lots of happy faces, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Beaudette is one of those satisfied golfers.
“I’ve been at the overpass location before, but I like this format a little better. There’s shelter already here if we need it, but we had lovely weather this weekend,” said Beaudette.
“It’s an awesome event, and the cause is a good one. I’ve been skiing a few times, and really enjoy it and I’m just happy we’re doing it for a good cause. There were lots of golfers out, so hopefully, we raised a lot of money.”
