From February 16 to February 25, Bonita Bay Club was witness to something that was truly unbelievable. How unbelievable? Well, let’s just say odds for this feat don’t exactly exist. Terry Wells, a member of the club for just over 20 years, did something she said was “surreal.”
For just the second time in her long golfing career, and first time at Bonita Bay Club, Ms. Wells aced number 12 of Bay Island on February 16 with an 8 iron. She didn’t see it go in and thought it may have been a ball that was just off the green. Little did she know, it was at the bottom of the cup.
Fast forward five days. It’s February 21. Ms. Wells is playing in an open play shotgun on Sabal. Of course, she starts on a Par 3, number 3. First swing of the day, it’s an 8 iron again. It’s headed right at the flag. Once again, she couldn’t see the ball land. As she approached the green, she figured it was a ball that was about 5 feet from the pin. It wasn’t. Ace number two in five days. “Oh my gosh, are you kidding me?” she said in disbelief.
Jump ahead four more days. It’s February 25. Ms. Wells is back at the west facility playing the Marsh course. The winds were blowing up to 20 mph that Monday. She was approaching number 8. She played last in her group and made a last second change from her lucky 8 iron up to a 7 iron to adjust for wind. The pin was middle left on the hill. She hit another good one, it bounced forward, rolled from right to left, and this time, she watched it go in. This time she said “Honest to God, are you kidding me? This is surreal!”
“After the second one, no one believed me. People were saying it was a joke. After the third it was like fake news,” she commented jokingly. She credited the shots on a little bit of luck and her new instructor Justin Smith.
And in case you’re wondering, Ms. Wells just accounted for 5% of all hole in ones made by Bonita Bay Club members throughout the course of a year. Odds to make one on any giving day are roughly 12,500 to 1. Three in ten days? I am going to imagine those odds have a pretty big multiplier. Furthermore, she has 724 rounds of golf posted in GHIN since 2007. That means she could play golf every day of the year for two years, not have a hole in one, and then make three in ten days. The three lucky balls that ended up in the cup won’t find themselves on the hole in one plaque given out, but in a personally made shadow box that will go right next to the plaques.
The interview with her couldn’t end without asking her if she ever thought she would get another one. She said “I actually almost made another in between my second and third hole in one in a different round. It almost went in and ended up about three inches away. Getting another one seems believable.”