Former Florida State pitcher and Tallahassee State College baseball coach Bryan Henry had the two-hole stretch of his life in golf during a Fellowship of Christian Athletes tournament on Oct. 21 at the Capital City Country Club in Tallahassee.
It was an uneventful 13 holes until Henry, the ACC pitcher of the year in 2007 when he went 14-2 for the Seminoles, made the rarest of holes-in-one, at a par-4. He used a TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver to ace the 346-yard 14th hole, with bonus of it being his first career ace.
Henry’s group (which included former TSC coach Mike McLeod, MidSouth Bank owner Chris Edwards and his father Wayne Edwards) initially thought Henry had hit his tee shot over the green. After they searched around the green and in bunkers for the ball, Henry finally took a peek to see the yellow Callaway Hexagonal ball resting safely in the hole.
“Shocked … blown away,” said Henry. “It was weird because I’ve seen two other people make a hole-in-one and you can see the ball go in at a par-3. We jumped up and down, tackled the guys who made those and dogpiled. This was downhill, downwind and I caught it good, but none of us could see where the ball wound up.”
But Henry wasn’t done.
On the next hole, a 481-yard par-5, he hit a 330-yard tee shot down the middle. His group used that drive and Henry’s second shot landed on the green and nearly trickled into the hole for what would have been back-to-back albatrosses.
Okay, now for the bad news. Henry had a downhill putt with a twist from a bit less than 3 feet for eagle — and missed. McLeod stepped up and made it to give the group the eagle and scores of 1-3 on the two holes. They shot a gross 61 and a net 56, losing the tournament by two shots.
“I was still shaking over that putt,” Henry admitted. “But Coach McLeod saved us.”
The odds of handicap player making a hole-in-one on a par-3 hole (Henry is an 8.5 handicap) are 12,000 to one, according to the National Hole-in-One Registry. The registry responded to an email asking for the odds for an ace on a par-4 and gave as estimate of more than 1 million to one.
Henry went 32-9 for his career at FSU and was named first-team All-ACC three times. TSC went 53-45 in his first two seasons as the coach, after taking over for McLeod following 32 years with the Eagles.
FSGA championships come to First Coast
The Florida State Golf Association is bringing three state championships to the First Coast in 2025.
The schedule will be highlighted by the 64th Florida Senior Open April 15-17 at the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club. According to available FSGA records, it’s the first time the nearly 100-year-old club has hosted a major state championship.
The Senior Amateur is open to Florida residents who are members of the FSGA, 55 years or older, with a verified handicap of 10 or less. The field of 144 will be cut to the low 60, plus ties after two rounds.
There are six qualifiers, with one at Eagle Harbor March 26.
The entry period begins on Jan. 22 and will last to March 10.
The other two statewide events on the First Coast will be the Womens Senior Fourball March 17-18 at Deercreek and the Men’s Match Play July 31-Aug. 3 at the Plantation at Ponte Vedra Beach.
Entries open for the Men’s Match Play on Jan. 22 and close July 2. A qualifier will be held at Palencia July 15.
The Women’s Fourball entries open on Feb. 5 and close March 5. No qualifiers are scheduled.
Holidays will be a busy golf period
Late November and December will be busy months on the First Coast golf calendar, and the World Golf Village courses are rolling out the welcome mat.
Four FSGA Winter Series events will be held at those two courses:
- Nov. 25-26: Women’s Stableford, Slammer & Squire.
- Dec. 11: Women’s Fourball (one-day tournament), Slammer & Squire.
- Dec. 12: Women’s Scramble (one-day tournament), King & Bear.
- Dec. 16-17: Men’s Stableford, Slammer & Squire.
In addition, the FSGA Mid-Amateur Stroke Play will be Dec. 13-15 at Hammock Dunes in Palm Coast.
Entry information on all events can be found at fsga.org.
The Jacksonville Area Golf Association has two events left on its 2024 calendar, the 21st annual Scholarship Trust at Deerwood on Nov. 25 and the JAGA Family Championship at the Jacksonville Beach Golf Club on Dec. 21, with shotgun starts at 8:45 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. Information on both events is at jaxareagolf.org.
Former Times-Union editor keeps streak going
Fred Seely, a former Florida Times-Union sports editor, kept his streak of matching or beating his age intact last week.
Seely shot 85 to tie his age at the Timuquana Country Club. He has now shot his age or better 15 years in a row, beginning in 2010 when he was 71.
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