Sports
Des Plaines Resident Aces Par-3 at Chick Evans Golf Course
Eric Johnson hit a 7-hybrid club on the 124-yard par-3 fourth hole in Morton Grove.
Eric Johnson’s swing felt good through the first three holes of the Chick Evans Golf Course in Morton Grove.
Johnson, a Des Plaines resident and bogey golfer, had only played the course once since picking the game back up again last year. Multiple rotator cuff surgeries forced Johnson to take a break from the game, but a church group brought him back in.
So the 52-year-old attorney placed his ball on the grass and pulled out a 7-hybrid club on the tee box of the 124-yard, par-3 fourth hole. Johnson hit it solid, landing the ball on the front of the green and watched as the ball continued to roll towards the cup.
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“We all saw it go in and my reaction was basically ‘I think it went in,’ Johnson said. “This other guy was jumping all over the place. He was more excited than I was.”
It was Johnson’s first hole-in-one, a mark of pride for any golfer. Johnson had a couple of eagles to his name – chipping in from 80 or 90 yards out on a few par-4s in his life – but never had recorded a “1” on any scorecard.
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Johnson finished out the round, shooting a four-over-par 76 on the short par-72 course.
“I’ve seen it go in on a par 4 where I’ve gotten a couple of 2s with my mid-shots,” Johnson said. “I’m a little more accurate with the mid-clubs I guess. That was just luck I’m sure.”
After his round, Johnson went back to the clubhouse where he filled out a couple of forms to put his name in a national registry and the PGA record books. He later received a certificate from the Cook County golf courses for his ace.
Johnson still has the ball and scorecard from his round back in late June. Eventually he’ll buy a plaque and frame the two items from his hole-in-one. Of course, he still plays with his 7-hybrid.
He hasn’t been back to play Chick Evans since, but the fourth hole will always bring the back the memory of the ace Johnson calls “just a lucky shot.”
“It’s a really neat feeling to walk up there and just pick your ball out of the cup,” Johnson said. “That was probably when it started to hit me that it went in. Then you look back from where you hit it and it’s pretty neat because you realize how lucky it is, how hard that is to do.”
