ALAN BLONDIN ON GOLF

Strange occurrences on Grand Strand courses

Francis Scheid, a Ph.D. and retired chairman of Boston University's mathematics department, set the odds of an average golfer making a hole-in-one at 12,000-to-1 in a Golf Digest article last year.

Considering those odds account for an ace just once every 3,000 rounds for an average player, there have been some strange occurrences on Grand Strand courses in the past few months.

First, a pair of sisters recorded aces at the same golf facility in the span of three months.

On April 20, Joanne Battaglini recorded a hole-in-one on the 109-yard third hole at Deer Track's Toski Links course using a 5-wood. On July 14, her sister, Connie Klimash, recorded an ace on the 120-yard fourth hole at Deer Track's South Course using a driver.

July 21 must have been a good day to be in the bar at Wicked Stick Golf Links when Conway's Ron Ganter finished his round.

Ganter holed aces on consecutive par-3s on the back nine at Wicked Stick. He aced the 143-yard 13th hole using a 7-iron and 172-yard 16th hole with a 5-wood.

The feat of successive aces in the span of 90 minutes or so is made more amazing when you look deeper into the odds. Scheid set the odds of a low-handicap player making two aces in same round at 67 million to 1. Looks like the lottery will be easy pickings for Ganter.

Other hole-in-one odds include:

Two average players in the same foursome acing the same hole: 17 million to 1

A tour player making an ace: 3,000 to 1

A low-handicap golfer making an ace: 5,000 to 1

A tour player acing a designated hole: 14,000 to 1

A low-handicap golfer acing designated hole: 20,000 to 1

An average player acing a designated hole: 48,000 to 1

An average player acing a 150-yard hole: 80,000 to 1

An average player acing a 200-yard hole: 150,000 to 1.