By Barb Arland-Fye
Twelve-year-old Eric Demidowicz of St. John Vianney Parish in Bettendorf accomplished a feat many adults never achieve: a hole in one at a golf outing.
The seventh-grader at Pleasant Valley Junior High School in Bettendorf scored his hole in one Sept. 13 while participating in the Men’s Fellowship Golf Tournament for St. John Vianney, said his dad, Bob Demidowicz. Eric was part of a foursome that included his dad, Andy Wolfe and Mark Fitkin.
They were playing the 11th hole at Hidden Hills Golf Course in Bettendorf, and Bob had just advised his son to use a seven-iron. Eric hit the ball from 115 yards. “I told him, ‘Let’s keep an eye on it,’” Bob said. The ball landed on the green, kicked to the right and then had a nice rolling pace. “We heard it hit the flag stick; it made a clink and we could still see the ball,” Bob continued. The ball was in the hole, but still visible. Bob instructed his son to move the flag stick with his hand; he did, and the ball dropped to the bottom of the hole. “I looked at him: “You pull it out. I’m not touching it,” Bob said.
The stunned 45-year-old father who has come close to, but never scored a hole in one, grabbed his son, picked him up and swung him around a couple of times.
“I was just so excited. I didn’t believe it went in,” Eric said.
The two have been hitting golf balls together since Eric was about 2-1/2 years old.
“This is the first hole in one I’ve ever witnessed in a group that I was playing in. So it was pretty amazing,” Bob said.
About.com:Golf cites a 1999 “Golf Digest” report on the odds of making a hole in one: “one insurance company puts a PGA Tour pro’s chances at 1 in 3,756 and an amateur’s at 1 in 12,750.”