Hole 17 is considered Lady Bay’s signature Par 3, inviting thousands of golfers a year to tackle the self-anointed beautiful but very difficult hole. The coastline views are often accompanied by strong winds, making the driver an option on particularly difficult days to land your shot onto the green of this 170m par 3. With only 5 hole-in-ones in 29 years, even just making the green is impressive, let along hitting a hole-in-one. Although if you ask Nick, he’d say it’s quite an easy hole, let’s dive in to get his thoughts on his majestic hole-in-one.
The Q and A:
Local Party Hole: Firstly, congratulations, Nick. Thanks for coming down.
We’re here at Lady Bay on hole 17, getting towards the end of your round. How were things going for you leading into that hole?
Nick: Before that, it was poor. I started off alright, but the four holes leading into 17 weren’t great. I had a couple of scratches and just wasn’t playing well. On 16, I actually bladed one over the back and didn’t even bother looking for it. I was in a bit of a mood.
So I definitely wasn’t in the kind of form where you’d expect to hit an ace. But sometimes that helps. I was probably playing a bit carefree, and I reckon that was part of it.
Local Party Hole: How did it feel off the club? The group didn’t react straight away.
Nick: It came off really nice. We had the wind behind us and it was tracking straight. But when it landed, I lost it in the air and just presumed I’d hit it long. I’d been hitting my irons a bit long all day.
I was tossing up between a seven and an eight iron and nearly went the eight. I chose the seven, so I was convinced it had gone over the back. One of the boys said, “I reckon you’re close.” But I’ve heard that plenty of times before and then you get up there and it’s nowhere near the green. I definitely wasn’t confident.
If you watch the video, you can see I just assumed it was over.
Check out Nick’s amazing shot here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DT_8WHyk3XP/
Local Party Hole: Your mate in the red shirt took off like he’d kicked the winner in a grand final. How did he know?
Nick: He’s always been known as a bit of a hawk. If there’s a lost ball anywhere, he’s the guy who spots it. From the start, he was the only one who thought it might be in. Even the other guy I was playing with didn’t think so.
When Juddy ran up the hill and said, “I can’t see it,” that’s when I got a little bit excited. But I still thought it must have gone long. He was the one who ran down and found it in the hole. He kind of ripped the band-aid off for me.
Local Party Hole: What emotions were going through your head when you realised?
Nick: A lot of swear words. Plenty of swearing.
We were playing our Kookaburra Golf Society major Stableford event for the year. There were 18 of us there, and we were the second group off. Guys from behind came over and gave me hugs. It was surreal looking in and actually seeing the ball in the hole.
Then it clicked that it was worth 10K as well. That was the cherry on top. Being able to celebrate it with a heap of mates made it even better.
Local Party Hole: I imagine there was plenty of bragging.
Nick: Big time. We use an app to record our scores and it sends out alerts. Everyone got a notification saying Nick got a hole-in-one. It’s popped up before as a joke when someone’s mucking around, so it was nice to have it be real this time.
Local Party Hole: There have only been five hole-in-ones here in the past 29 years. How does it feel to join that group?
Nick: I’m pretty pumped. The pro shop said there’d only been about three in the last 15 years. To hear it’s only five in 29 years is unreal. I’m stoked to be part of that group.
Local Party Hole: Have you had one before?
Nick: I hit one as a teenager on a 60 metre par 3, but I never really counted it. I’ve hit the pin once before, but it was more of a bladed one across the green. So no, nothing like this. I’d almost convinced myself I’d go through my whole life without hitting one. To get it here and have it count like this is awesome.
Local Party Hole: LIV Golf is coming up next month. Has Greg Norman been in touch?
Nick: Not yet. I’ve sent a few emails just in case they need a late call-up. I told them I’ll be there Saturday if they need me.
Local Party Hole: You’ve got the 10K prize. Any exciting plans?
Nick: My youngest son is four and when I tried to explain it to him, he said he wanted a gold watch. I have no idea where that came from.
I’m heading to Europe later in the year, so it’ll be nice spending money for that. A few people suggested new clubs, but I can’t swap these out now. Maybe a new MGI cart would be nice. I’ll treat myself to something.
Local Party Hole: How did you enjoy the overall Local Party Hole experience?
Nick: It was wild. I’d played it once before and a few of the guys had told me about it. Last time, we even joked that if one of us hit it, we’d split the money four ways and go on a boys trip.
This time I was playing that badly the conversation didn’t even come up. I just stepped up and hit it.
It’s such a cool experience. I’ve seen other people’s videos before and now to have my own is unreal. It’s a great story to be able to tell.
Local Party Hole: And how many times have you watched the video?
Nick: Probably too many. Every time I watch it, it still puts a smile on my face. I shared it straight away. My brothers have said they’ve had heaps of people send it to them. It’s been really good.
Local Party Hole: Nick, congratulations again. Thanks for joining us.
Nick: Thanks mate, appreciate it.
