Alabama golfers get back-to-back aces the hard way

[May 30, 2009]  MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. (AP) -- Pierre Fournier and Ken Osborne hit back-to-back holes in one - just not necessarily in that order. Playing in the same five-person group, Fournier teed off first, but his ball landed some eight feet past the hole, rolled back to the cup and didn't go in until after Osborne's had gone in. The two Muscle Shoals golfers managed that bizarre feat at Cypress Lakes Golf and Country Club recently on the 112-yard par 3 12th hole.

Osborne, Fournier and playing partner Jim Stansell saw Fournier's ball stop just behind the hole. Osborne's shot also landed on a slope behind the hole and spun back.

Stansell said he did not think Osborne's ball knocked in the other ball. In that case, United States Golf Association rules would have required Fournier to replace his ball as close as possible to its original position.

"It's the craziest thing I've ever seen on the golf course," Stansell told the TimesDaily in a story Friday. "I couldn't tell if the wind blew it in or what, but I never saw Ken's ball touch it."

After the round, they told their tale to club professional Bill Castle, who made a phone call to get a definitive ruling.

Without witnesses or evidence that Fournier's ball was nudged into the hole, it officially goes down as an ace.

"Had mine gone in first and then Ken's, I'd have said, 'Oh my gosh, are we going to get drunk,' " Fournier said.

"I knew that if his ball hit mine, my hole-in-one wouldn't count," he said. "I knew that, and I play by the rules."

Fournier estimates that at least 90 seconds passed between the time Osborne's shot and his own ball fell into the cup.

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Information from: TimesDaily, http://www.timesdaily.com/

[Associated Press]

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