The PGA Professional is the oldest person to record an ace, the eighth of his career, which took place on the 14th hole of the Lakes Course at Palm Aire Country Club in Sarasota, Fla.
PGA Professional Gus Andreone has recorded the eighth ace of his career on the 113-yard, 14th hole of the Lakes Course at Palm Aire Country Club in Sarasota, Fla., likely setting a record for the oldest person to earn a hole in one at age 103, PGA.com reported.
There’s no sure way to know, but we can say that nobody older has ever notified a golf institution with proper verification. Cliff Schrock, Editor at the Golf Digest Resource Center, believes the record is now Andreone’s, PGA.com reported.
“We would see Mr. Andreone’s ace as the oldest for male or female golfers if Palm Aire’s Lakes Course is indeed a regulation layout. It looks that way to me on their website,” Schrock told PGA.com in an e-mail.
According to Schrock: The oldest male previously was Otto Bucher, 99, of Geneva, Switzerland on the 130-yard 12th hole at La Manga (Spain) Club in January 1985. He noted that 101-year-old Harold Stilson aced the 16th hole (108 yards) in 2001 at Deerfield Country Club in Deerfield Beach, Fla., but that course, however, has nine par-3 holes, PGA.com reported.
“We stubborn traditionalists don’t like to recognize records unless they take place on a regulation course,” Schrock said.
As such, Mr. Stilson was listed with an asterisk. Golf Digest had Elsie McLean as the oldest player for her hole-in-one in 2007 at Bidwell Park Golf course; she was 102, PGA.com reported.
Andreone has long been a fixture, serving the PGA of America for over 75 years, PGA.com reported.
There’s a wooden statue of Andreone, the creation of Palm Aire club member John Gray, which overlooks the Gus Andreone Practice and Teaching Facility. The statue, presented in 2011 to honor Andreone on his 100th birthday, “symbolizes the humble man’s unpretentious affection for the game, his profession and what it means to wake up every day knowing that there’s more golf to be played,” wrote PGA Senior Association Writer Bob Denney.
Perhaps just as incredible as the ace itself is the length of time between Andreone’s first ace and his latest: 75 years. His first came in 1939. Andreone still plays golf three times per week, PGA.com reported.
“As long as I can swing a club, I’ll be playing golf,” Andreone said.
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