Howie Tiger
On Thursday, Jan. 27, Tom Sandgren made a hole-in-one on the 17th hole at Eagle’s Nest golf course. This was the first ace of the 2022 season made in a PebbleCreek Men’s Golf Association (PCMGA) event. As such, Tom now qualifies for the annual hole-in-one prize.
The 17th hole was playing 146 yards from the blue tee to a middle-left pin placement. Just before teeing up, Tom visualized his shot and even shared his description with his playing partners Jim Nowak, Ken Robinson, and Gene Howard. He told them that he was going to hit a knock-down 6-iron with a fade trajectory to the left side of the green and hope it gets near the hole to make a birdie. He hit it as planned. The ball landed on the left edge of the green, bounced right, and lo and behold it rolled into the hole.
His partners starting jumping up and down with excitement and shouting to Tom, “Way to go!” Tom’s initial reaction was more subdued. He said, “I was surprised it went in.” Apparently, he had been close to making a hole-in-one on several occasions without success. In fact this was his first ever hole-in-one in 50 years of playing golf. The closest he’s been actually came on two par 4’s when the balls rested on the edge of the cup. One of those was in Florida and one in North Dakota.
Tom grew up in Cavalier, N.D. He graduated from North Dakota State with a degree in business and economics. After graduation he took a job with a flooring company in Minnesota. He worked his way up and eventually started his own company, Value Plus Flooring in Eagan, Minn. His company specialized in flooring installation for large apartment and condominium projects. He retired in 2021.
Tom purchased a villa in PebbleCreek in 2018. He plays lots of golf with his group, the Birdie Chasers. He lives with his significant other Dianne Witte and they enjoy their snowbird life splitting time between here and Minnesota.
Congratulations to Tom on his amazing shot!