A Cochrane man has won $10,000 after hitting a hole-in-one at an annual golf tournament held in Matheson in August.
Michael Cave and his golf partner Andrew Paquet took part in the two-day Black Fly Open – Two-man Scramble Golf Tournament held at Black River Golf Club in Matheson on Aug. 8-9.
Caisse Alliance Timmins sponsored the hole-in-one. The cheque presentation to the winner took place Wednesday, Sept. 30, at the Caisse Alliance Timmins branch.
“It was quite the feeling, I was shaky because it’s something that doesn’t happen very often. It was exciting,” said Cave, who’s been playing golf since he was about 10.
Before the winning shot, Cave, 29, and Paquet were leading the tournament. They reached the sixth hole and Paquet went to hit first. Then, Cave hit the ball from 178 yards away using a 9-iron.
The shot happened on the last day of the tournament, during a final round. Out of 72 players, Cave turned out to be the last player.
“I’m going to pay off some bills and share some with my playing partner," Cave said about how he's going to spend the money. "I’d like to thank Lison and Jacques for putting on a great tournament and also having the course in great condition as always. And I’d like to thank Serge, a sponsor for hole-in-one.”
Cave and Paquet also won the tournament that weekend.
“Most likely we’ll make it happen again next year and maybe expand it to different tournaments and communities in our area,” Caisse Alliance Timmins manager Serge Breton said about the possibility of sponsoring the hole-in-one in the future.
Golf course owner Jacques Charlebois, who’s had the course for 13 years, said the tournament has been going on for about 25 years. He said it was the first time he saw a hole-in-one in his life.
“It was a thrill. I was golfing myself, we heard some yelling, we didn’t know it was Cave but it was something to see,” he said. “We were very happy for him and happy for us, too.”
“I didn’t get a chance to see but I was a group in front of them and soon we found out and we were very excited for them,” added tournament co-ordinator Philippe Losier.
