LUCKY SCHOTT: CAPE MAN SINKS 7TH HOLE-IN-ONE

It's plain to see why Harold Schott has such a fondness for the game of golf in general and Kimbeland Country Club in particular.

When Schott aced the 150-yard, No. 6 hole at Kimbeland last Friday, it was the Cape Girardeau resident's seventh career hole-in-one -- six of them having come at the Jackson golf course.

The 64-year-old Schott also aced Kimbeland's No. 6 earlier this year, in the spring, and he aced that very hole last year as well.

"That hole has been pretty good to me," said Schott with a laugh. "I guess Kimbeland has been pretty good to me. That's where I do most of my playing."

Schott said his hole-in-one last year at Kimbeland actually broke something of a drought for him.

"That was the first one I'd had in about 10 or 12 years," he said. "I had a drought for a while."

Told that seven career golf aces is most unusual, the good-natured Schott replied, "I think there's people that have had more, but I don't know of any around here. Most people don't play as much as I do."

Schott said he has been playing golf regularly since he was about 40 and he really picked up the pace when he retired in 1982.

"Then I started playing every day and I still do, except Sundays," he said. "We have a group of about 30 or 40 guys. Sometimes there will be six of us, sometimes 11, but we play every day the course is open. We'll play 18 holes and then sometimes we'll play another nine."

Schott's first hole-in-one -- and his only non-Kimbeland ace -- took place at the Cape Jaycee Municipal Course "about 20 or 25 years ago, when I couldn't play worth a crap."

Since that time, Schott's game has improved considerably. He said he carries a handicap of about two or three and has an all-time best round of 64. Earlier this year, he and his son finished first in two-man scramble competition during the Knights of Columbus state tournament in Kansas City.

Schott said he has no plans of slowing down and hopes to add a few more aces in the years to come.

"Plan on keeping playing until I can't any more or until I kick the bucket," he said with a chuckle.