HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (August 27, 2021) – Imagine the roar of the gallery if two players made back-to-back aces during the PGA TOUR’s annual stop for the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island?
The cheers were nearly that loud and just as thrilling on Tuesday, August 24 for golfers Jeffrey Johnson of Marietta, Georgia and Mike Long of Wellington, Florida, who sank back-to-back, holes-in-one on the 10th hole of The Sea Pines Resort’s Atlantic Dunes course.
According to the National Hole-In-One Registry, the odds are 17-million-to-one of two players in the same foursome making aces, with the odds of back-to-back aces even higher.
The golfers, who had not met before their epic round, took different approaches to the hole. Long hit first from white tees and used a 5-hybrid on the Davis Love III design that weaves among the sand dunes and ocean. Next up was Johnson, who used a pitching wedge from the blue tees, where water comes into play along the left-hand side.
“Dang, I thought, now I’ve got to follow this guy. Two swings in a row, two balls in the hole, how does that happen?” Johnson recounted. “I started running around in circles and waving my arms.”
According to Bobby Downs, Head Golf Professional at Atlantic Dunes and Heron Point, four workers who were building a sea wall near the green witnessed the action as it unfolded. “They were cheering, people were stopping their cars on the road, and everyone was going crazy. In my 38 years as a golf professional on Hilton Head Island, I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
Enjoying his final day of vacation, Johnson said he bought the $2 draft beers after the round. “It’s a day I’ll never forget. Of course, my friends still don’t believe me.”
For more information about Atlantic Dunes or The Sea Pines Resort, visit www.seapines.com.