St. Charles East golf coach sinks two holes in one ... in the same game
John Stock says golf is supposed to be fun, so he marks a smiley face on his ball each time before teeing off.
But the St. Charles East boys golf coach had his own smile planted permanently on his face during a recent round at Orchard Valley Golf Course with about 20 of his friends during what they have called "The Thursday Legends" rounds.
Stock truly added a legendary feat, one that he called "a once-in-a-lifetime happening" to those fun outings by sinking not one, but two hole-in-one shots - on the same back nine at the course.
"You have to be lucky, let's be honest," Stock said of his extraordinary shots. "A lot of people hit the green on a par 3 hole and it rolls past the hole."
Stock's foursome started on the back nine on this particular day, so he pulled out his pitching wedge on the No. 12 hole and hit a 104-yard shot going right toward the hole.
"The nice thing about it was we could see it go right in," Stock said. "It hit in front of the pin, rolled about three feet and rolled in."
He didn't have the benefit of seeing the second ace go in, as the hole on No. 17 was hidden behind a small hump on the green.
"It was playing about 134 yards out and I hit an 8 iron and it hit on the left side, it hit a little hump on the back of the green and rolled down," Stock said.
His playing partner, Jim Hissong, was sure it went in; Stock thought it went off the back of the green. "When we got up there, it was in the hole," he said.
All of the players started doing math in their heads about the odds of such a feat, and Stock said that Hissong later looked it up in some way and told him it was 67-million-to-one odds for a player to make two holes-in-one on the same nine holes in the same day.
It wasn't Stock's first time down the road of the ultimate golf shot.
"I made one at Village Links (in Glen Ellyn) about three years ago," he said. "When my partner took the ball out of the hole that time, the smiley face was looking right up at him."
It was Jean's idea:
It's been around for 33 years now, so someone had a pretty good idea when thinking maybe it would be fun if St. Charles held a festival in which various types of scarecrows were on display in a park near the downtown.
As city, chamber and visitor's bureau folks who have been around a long time know, that "someone" was Jean Becker. She spotted an interesting community festival featuring scarecrows when on the East Coast one year, and came back in her role as the executive director of the St. Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau to share her idea.
That idea is on display again this weekend with the 33rd annual St. Charles Scarecrow Fest at Lincoln Park.
Like any other major outdoor community festival, this one relies on Mother Nature to cooperate. If she does, one would be hard-pressed to find a more enjoyable autumn event in the region.
So, as you are enjoying the scarecrows, the craft show and other activities related to the festival, just a take a moment to acknowledge that we're lucky that Jean Becker, a resident of Florida now for many years, had the light bulb go off in her mind when she visited a similar fest all of those years ago.
Some history options:
Those interested in learning more about St. Charles might find the city's North Cemetery a good place to do so.
The St. Charles History Museum is offering "Grave Reminders" tours from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, with walking tours departing every 15 minutes from the hour. Parking is available near the cemetery in the lower parking lot at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 1145 N. Fifth Ave.
Cemetery tour participants will learn about the community figures who shaped the city when encountering the "spirits" of those fine citizens.
We've always enjoyed these types of events, in which history comes to life with stories that, quite often, you've never heard before.
It's $5 per person and an adult must accompany those younger than 15. Those younger than 5 are free.
If learning your history while visiting a restaurant seems to be more your speed, the museum also is offering a "Mystery History" food crawl in the city from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11. It's the same concept, but you learn about history while visiting various restaurants and trying the food. It's $25 for residents, $38 for nonresidents.
Geneva History Museum has similar offerings with cemetery walks on Saturdays, Oct. 6 and 20, at $10 per person and $5 for museum members.
It is also offering a "tours and tastings" fundraiser from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 7, at Fox River Distilling Company. Cost is $10 per person and registration is at (630) 232-4951.
A culinary privilege:
Chef Tony Gargano starts a busy few days this week at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival in Florida.
The owner and head chef of Osteria Bigolaro in downtown Geneva was invited to be part of the 75-day event that features top chefs from throughout the country.
Gargano was invited to take part in a grand tasting event Saturday and a celebrity chef culinary demonstration Tuesday, Oct. 9.
We always like hearing that one of our local chefs is getting this kind of recognition.
dheun@sbcglobal.net