Foursome collects two holes in one at Kimbeland

Jackson retirees Gary Niswonger and Jim Kellett may have never considered themselves a tough act to follow on a golf course, but you might have trouble selling that one to Merle Gelsheimer and Howard Kinder, who were in the tough position of followees last week.

One week ago today, Niswonger and Kellett made Kimbeland Country Club look more like Fantasyland Country Club, as the regular foursome's round took some strange turns and bounces.

Heading into the round, the pair had a combined 137 years on this planet, approximately 74 years of golf experience and exactly zero holes in one. In a span of three holes and approximately 20 minutes, both men joined the hole-in-one fraternity.

"You can't imagine the shock it was for us," said Kellett, who followed up Niswonger's ace on No. 4 with an ace on No. 6.

The round was a wild departure for the four men, who stick to a routine. For the past three years, the foursome has kept an 8:30 a.m. tee time every Wednesday and Friday at Kimbeland. In addition, all but Niswonger play in a group on Monday.

"We play Monday, Wednesday and Friday," Gelsheimer said. "Just another day, we thought."

The group arrived at the No. 1 white tee on a typical July morning.

"It was kind of hot and humid, but it was clear," recalled Niswonger, the former fire chief in Jackson.

On the fourth hole, the group entered the proverbial zone. Although this one, might have been mistaken for the Twilight Zone.

Niswonger, 71, said he usually hits a pitching wedge on the 115-yard hole, but he pulled out an 8-iron to take into account a back pin placement.

"I was trying to fly it back to the pin with an 8-iron," said Niswonger.

The shot didn't come off as planned, as Niswonger soared the shot, which landed on the front of the green.

"I didn't mishit it, I just hit it high," Niswonger said. "It released better than I thought it would."

He estimated it rolled 20 to 25 feet on the slick green.

"It looked like it was running out of speed," he said. "When it got to the hole it was barely going, but it had enough to drop in."

The scorecard shows the two holes-in-one that Gary Niswonger and Jim Kellett shot while playing in a foursome July 7 with Howard Kinder and Merle Gelsheimer at Kimbeland Country Club. (Fred Lynch)

The celebration began.

"I jumped for joy," said Niswonger, who received high-fives from his playing partners.

Little did the group realize this was only Celebration No. 1.

The par 4 No. 5 merely served as an interlude to Celebration No. 2.

Kellett, 66, who was in the midst of a 74 -- his best round at Kimbeland -- followed Gelsheimer, who hit first on the tee box on No. 6. Kellett's 6-iron from 140 yards took a more aggressive approach than Niswonger's 8-iron.

Kellett's ball hit the green, took two hops and disappeared.

"I was sure his went in," Niswonger said. "I said, 'It's going in, Jim.' I didn't see it anywhere on the green. I had seen it in flight going straight for the pin. It was a beautiful shot."

Just minutes removed from Celebration No. 1, Kellett wasn't getting his hopes up too high.

"I was pretty sure, but it seems like you have that doubt," Kellett said. "Especially to be the second one in a row. You have that thought, 'Surely it can't be' when you're still excited and proud of Gary getting his."

Gelsheimer was certain.

"I was. He wasn't," he said. "I was over on the cartpath watching, and he was on the tee box. I saw it go in. It hit the pin and went down."

Gelsheimer added: "It was exciting to have two go in. You play years with your group and have no one get one -- and bam. The only bad thing is one wasn't mine."

Not that there weren't more chances. Gelsheimer, who had a hole in one in 1999 at a course in Florida, and Kinder were hopeful that the round would cough up more on the two remaining par-3s.

"Merle and I tried on No. 8 -- the next par-3, but I guess we were all too nervous," said Kinder. "We tried again on No. 12. I guess we'll have to wait our turn. Three and I think people would have been suspicious."

Gelsheimer agreed: "That would of been a hard story to sell, wouldn't it?"