Hole in ones have been raining at RainDance National Resort & Golf.
The Windsor, CO golf course is barely a year old – opened July 12, 2022 – and it’s already witnessed 25 hole in ones. Of those 25 aces, 20 have occurred in 2023.
The first one came on May 7 when Lage Dreyer used a 9 iron from 149 yards out on the 17th hole, and nearly three months later – Aug. 9 – the 20th ace was accomplished when Doug Lopez hit an 8 iron on the same hole from 137 yards.
While the first and last ace of the year, at the time of this writing, came on the same hole, not all hole in ones are similar.
The 17th hole has played host to the most hole in ones this year with nine. The farthest distance was Kevin Cohrs’ 8 iron from 183 yards on Aug. 5 and the closest was from 132 yards when Miles Atkinson used a pitching wedge on June 24.
The ace for Cohrs was significant for The Water Valley Company, the owner and developer of RainDance National, since he is the Head PGA Golf Professional for its sister course, Pelican Lakes Resort & Golf. Watching Kevin cooly remove his TaylorMade (Kingdom, baby!) golf ball out of the hole is a highlight for the entire company. It was Kevin’s first hole in one, which might seem unusual for a PGA Golf Professional, but the odds are 12,500 to 1 to earn an ace.
On Aug. 8, Josey Conn became the first person to ace a par 4 at RainDance National when he used his driver on the “drivable” third hole from 263 yards out. It’s technically a double eagle, or an albatross, but we’re claiming it as a hole in one.
Another milestone occurred just moments before Cohrs earned his hole in one when a still unidentified player became the first person to ace the 12th hole. Of the 25 hole in ones at RainDance National, there’s only one on number 12. The pro shop was unable to identify who that mystery golfer was, but for the sake of history, we’re still counting it on our master list. (If the reader knows someone who earned a hole in one at RainDance National on Aug. 5, please let us know.) UPDATE: A day after this blog was posted, Ben Gilson was identified as the person to ace the 12th hole from 189 yards out. He did all of this while playing a yellow golf ball, which is always a bold move.
To put in perspective of why 20 hole in ones in a season seems high, according to the fact-finding folks at Pelican Lakes, home to seven par 3s, the most aces in a year was 17. There were 17 in 2020 and in 2021. Granted, not everyone reports these rare accomplishments to the pro shop for fear of maxing out their debit cards from buying celebratory beverages.
And since we’re on the topic of rare accomplishments, the first official albatross at RainDance National occurred on July 25. David King went driver, 8 iron on the par 5 16th hole to create history. Odds of achieving an albatross are 6 million to 1.
With a few more months of golf left in the Northern Colorado season, we anticipate even more memorable aces. Stay tuned!
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