NO JOKE: HANN ACES HOLE IN SECOND ROUND EVER PLAYED

Shane Hann of Fruitland, Mo., had trouble convincing friends and co-workers about his first hole-in-one.

On the surface, the story sounds straight forward enough: Golfer goes to Bent Creek, needs only one shot on No. 8, a par three playing 170 yards.

But complicating the facts just a tad was the timing.

First it occurred in just the second round Hann ever played. Second, and making his story even less credible, is it happened this past Sunday, which just happened to be April Fools Day.

Now try to get someone to believe.

"Everybody thought it was an April Fools joke," said Hann, 31. "Everybody would say, Aww right.'"

But with Proctor & Gamble co-worker Dwayne Griffin, Rodney Miller and his son, Blane, witnessing the shot, people finally started to come around.

"At work they go from happy to kind of mad," said Hann. "They were a little jealous I did it."

Hann was indeed an unlikely candidate to accomplish golf's golden shot, a feat many golfers go a lifetime without achieving. In fact, Rodney Miller has golfed for nearly 50 years and never had such luck.

Hann's only previous round was at a company tournament two years earlier and he estimates he's hit at a practice range three times in his life.

His previous seven holes had left little clue of what was about to occur. He had lost three of his Titleist X-outs in Bent Creek water hazards and had given up on keeping score.

"Oh gosh, I was shooting terrible. I hit between 70 and 75 for nine holes," said Hann.

None of it mattered when he reached No. 8, where he was just another golfer. Fate can be as fickle as a golf swing, and when the two intersect, strange things can happen.

Hann launched his ball with his driver. The hole plays downhill with water to the left side of the green.

"After I shot it I was looking in the pond and hoping it wasn't going over there," said Hann.

The ball landed on the green, taking its first hop about 12 feet in front of the pin, touching down again about a half-foot in front of the hole and then disappearing.

Hann grew up in Canada and professes to be a big hockey fan. He even takes grief for having a hockey swing. With his background, and a lack of a golf background, he didn't quite understand his shot's degree of difficulty.

"When I got the hole-in-one all I said was Oh cool,' and I turned around and the guys started jumping on me," he said. "I guess I really didn't understand what I did. As the days go on I realize a little more."

His three partners had never seen a hole-in-one.

"I don't think anyone believed it till we went down there and looked in the hole," said Griffin.

While the timing of the hole-in-one was strange, it wasn't exactly perfect timing to Hann.

"The disappointing thing about the whole thing is we're having a P&G tournament coming up and they're supposed to be giving away $25,000 for a hole-in-one," he said. "I was hoping to get something out of this -- even just a hat or a shirt. But I do have the ball."

And a memory for a lifetime.