This past Feb. 26, longtime Arcadia resident Loren Miller had his first-ever hole in one on the 15th hole at Santa Anita Golf Course. But Miller had a shot Thursday, May 23, that is much rarer than a hole in one. And I was in his foursome to witness it.
The other two players in our foursome were Bill Gleason and Bob Cheney, also Arcadia residents. We are part of what we call the Over The Hill Golf Group, or OTHGG for short. There are 17 or 18 of us, all retired.
Miller's rare shot came on Santa Anita's sixth hole, which is rated toughest on the course. Miller was struggling on the hole, and had to take his third shot from about 60 yards away from the pin. He skulled his wedge, sending the ball flying toward Gleason, who was standing over his ball just off the back of the green.
Miller's ball bounced once, lightly hit Gleason and disappeared. We looked around and it was nowhere to be found. Gleason then put his hand his left jacket pocket, and guess what? There was the ball.
Miller's hole in one on the par-3, 178-yard 15th hole in February was a thing of beauty. His shot that ended up in Gleason's pocket was hardly a thing of beauty.
I did a Google search to see if I could find a ruling on such a shot. There probably is a rule, but I couldn't find it. I imagine Miller would have had to take a penalty for an unplayable lie, but in this case we just let him have a free drop. We all had a good laugh.
You've heard of pocket pool. I guess this was pocket golf.