Vic VanHorn makes hole-in-one at PCMGA Club Championship tournament

Vic Van Horn scored an ace on Hole 17 at Tuscany Falls East.

Vic Van Horn scored an ace on Hole 17 at Tuscany Falls East.

Howie Tiger

Vic Van Horn made a hole-in-one on Wednesday, February 13 while playing in the PebbleCreek Men’s Golf Association Club Championship. He made it on the 17th hole of the Tuscany Falls East course.

Vic hit an 8-iron 132 yards from the white tee to a left-middle pin. It was a difficult pin-placement as the hole sat on a shelf close to the left edge of the green. He hit a fade shot landing the ball just left of the hole. It kicked right a bit and went into the hole. Vic’s first reaction was, “Did that go in the hole?” He and his playing partners (Bob Newell, Arnie Lawrence and Dean Bass) all saw it go in.

How coincidental. While Vic and his group waited on the tee for the foursome in front to complete the hole, Bob Newell asked Vic if he ever had a hole-in-one. Vic said, “Yes, back in 1975.” Then Vic hit first and boom! Maybe Bob has some premonition skills?

Vic’s other hole-in-one in 1975 came at the Eastern Hills municipal course in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He was playing with his mom. He hit his shot and the group in front of him started yelling and waving a flag as they saw it go in. His mom (who is not known to ever curse) said to Vic, “I think that son-of-a-bitch went into the hole.”

There must be something with Vic and the number 13. His first hole-in-one came on the 13th hole and this recent one came on February 13!

Vic grew up in Three Rivers, Michigan. He was a data center engineer for Transunion. He retired in 2014. He and his wife, Jan, moved to PebbleCreek in September 2017. He is an 11 handicap and has been playing golf for 63 years. He is a brand-new member of the PCMGA as he just joined in November 2018.

As it happened during a PCMGA event, Vic is now qualified to share in the hole-in-one annual prize fund which is usually about $2,000. Gus Gladding’s share just got cut in half in less than a month! Is this a trend? Will we have one a month for the rest of 2019? Maybe we should ask Bob Newell?

Congratulations, Vic! Welcome to the PCMGA!