Teen drops hole-in-one on Brooksville course
By
Mike Camunas, Times Staff Writer In print: Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Keith McCall, 17, poses the No. 12 par four hole at Brooksville Golf and Country Club, where he scored his hole in one.
BROOKSVILLE
Keith McCall is just not that good of a golfer.
At least that's what he claims. Though he's got to have at least some skill to bag a hole in one on a par four. Right?
That is, after all, pulling a Happy Gilmore.
"I guess that's it," McCall, 17, said with a laugh to reference to the Adam Sandler movie. "The result was the best I've ever had, but not the shot. I sliced it a bit, but it straightened out and headed towards the green. I'm not a great golfer, but I know I've always been able to drive really far."
On the No. 12 hole at the Brooksville Golf and Country Club, McCall was playing a round with his buddy, Blake Hunter. They came up to white tees. McCall pulled out his driver and pounded a drive 273 yards onto the green.
If he had only known the outcome.
"I didn't know it was in the hole," McCall said. "(Blake) had hit a really good shot as well. I saw (mine) hit the green, but I easily thought it just rolled off the green because its so slanted."
The No. 12 hole has two paths to the green: a high road and a low road. However, McCall had hit too soon. There was a foursome down on the load road, trying to hit up the 50-foot incline to the green.
McCall never knew his ball was in the hole until one of the other golfers found it when they went to putt.
"I really didn't freak out," McCall said. "(Hunter) kind of freaked out a lot more than I did. It's really cool, I guess, but I didn't want to make a huge deal out of it. But I really had no idea where it went. That was lucky for it to go where it went."
Hunter admits he got a bit more excited.
"I was almost silent because I didn't know what to say," Hunter said. "But then, I was like, 'Dude, you just shot a freaking hole-in-one! Oh my God!'
"He definitely has the right to brag, even though he's a better golfer than me. He can brag all he wants."
McCall is a senior at Hernando Christian Academy, with aspirations to attend the University of Florida. He doesn't, however, have any aspirations to play on the golf team for the Gators — "I did horribly playing in districts" about a month ago.
That's fine. Because no one can take away the fact that this is the course's first hole in one on a par 4 since the back-nine holes were renovated in 2005, adding three quarry holes including No. 12.
"Just because it's a par 4 the chances of that happening is very slim," the course's director of golf, Vince Buelk, said. "On that hole, it has to be a great shot just to get it up there to the green. On our course, we'll probably have eight to 10 hole in ones a year, but those are usually on par 3's.
"But what makes it very cool is that he's the first to do it."
Buelk said McCall had additional witnesses because the No. 13 tee box is so near the No. 12 green, easily in visible range to view the shot.
There's no doubt McCall sank it. And even though Hunter has graciously given him bragging rights, just don't expect it from McCall.
"I really didn't assume that people had done it a lot," McCall said. "A lot of people hit from the black tees on that hole, so they can't do it from there. It's a lot easier to do it from where I was hitting.
"That just shows you I'm not a the best golfer out there."
