Hole-in-one joy for 77-year-old
His first hole-in-one was worth the wait for Brough’s Paul Lawrence, who aced the sixth at his home course, 70 years after taking up the game.
The 77-year-old retired Humber Pilot was playing in a team event alongside Chris Morris and Ian Beetham when he was third to play at the short hole on Tuesday.
After watching his partners just miss left and right, Paul sent his seven iron straight at the target but had to wait a while to find out his shot had gone straight in.
“I had had a couple of three putts so when it was in the air my first thought was ‘just make sure you don’t three putt this one’,” said Paul
“Then, after we all arrived on the green, Ian and Chris both congratulated me and I thought they were congratulating me for getting it on the green.
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“One of them said: ‘Didn’t you see it?’ And I just said ‘No I didn’t’. It would have been nice to have seen it go in and it still feels a bit strange to have had one after all these years.”
Paul, who has been a member of the East Yorkshire club for 38 years, still has a way to catch up with his wife Jean. The Brough ladies captain from last year has racked up five aces so far.
And he had to break his alcoholic fast to celebrate with fellow members in the bar afterwards.
He added: “I phoned my wife straight after getting the hole-in-one to tell her and to let her know, having done Dry January, I would be taking a day off.
“There is a tradition at the club that anyone who gets one, buys a bottle of whiskey and inscribes it. It is then left on the bar with a couple of glasses so I enjoyed a glass with Chris and Ian after our rounds.”
There was further good news for the trio as they compiled enough points to win the team stableford event.