HUMBOLDT 鈥� Humboldt resident Murray Lees was on the fourth hole of the Moon Lake Golf and Country Club鈥檚 Highland course in Saskatoon, competing in the Auto Clearing Senior Men鈥檚 Championship.
The par 3 hole is around 140 yards in length, depending where one tees off. On that day on June 23, the wind was blowing strongly to the west. Lees decided to use his five iron for the job.
The ball disappeared. It was a hole in one. Lees had won $5,000.
鈥淚 didn't have my glasses on, so I had no idea,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was just going by what the guys said. They said, 鈥業 think it鈥檚 in.鈥�
鈥淭hen I drove down with a cart parked on the back of the green and realized there was a ball sitting at the back of the green. Then they walked up 鈥� they were pull-carting it, I was in a cart 鈥� and they went up to it, pulled the flag and I thought, 鈥榯hat鈥檚 my ball,鈥� as it rolled by.鈥�
At first, Lees wasn鈥檛 thinking too much about the hole in one.聽
鈥淚 didn't want to lose my focus, and the guys were yelling and screaming and I am going, 鈥榮o what?鈥� After the round I started thinking about it and I thought that's pretty cool, to win money on a stroke.鈥�
In fact, he kept using the lucky ball until his partners told him to use a different one. He still has the ball as a memento.
This is Lees鈥� third hole in one, but his first one during a tournament.
鈥淲hen you're out with your friends, it鈥檚 quite different than on a winning hole,鈥� he said.
Lees ended up shooting an 80 that day.
鈥淪o, I probably did lose focus a bit, but yeah, it was okay.鈥�
As for the prize money, Lees said he鈥檚 going to use it to help children go to nearby bible camps, like Stoney Lake Bible Camp south of Tisdale and Torch Trail Bible Camp north of Nipawin.
He said he was talking about having a golf tournament for a fundraiser for those at-risk kids who can't go to camp.
鈥淭hat's really what we want. We don't need it [the money],鈥� he said, 鈥淲e鈥檒l be just helping out kids.鈥�
Lees is also a cancer survivor.聽 Three and a half years ago, he had a stem cell transplant. The doctor told him that he wouldn't be golfing. Lees said he鈥檚 still on a series of drugs and doing chemo every two weeks.
Before he chatted to the Humboldt Journal at the Humboldt Golf Club about his hole in one, he'd golfed in Kelvington. After the interview, he went home to pick up his clubs for another round of nine holes.
鈥淵ou have to remember the good. That's important, you got to remember the good, what you got,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 have nine grandkids. Those are the things that will keep you going. It's not the good shots anymore.鈥�
