Northern B.C.鈥檚Northern B.C.鈥檚
Northern B.C.鈥檚 Cameron Epp, 23, stepped onto the first hole at the Skeena Valley Golf & Country Club in Terrace Aug. 2, lined up his drive, and made one of the rarest shots in the game.
鈥淚t was just a regular tee off,鈥� Epp said. 鈥淚 put the ball behind a tree a little bit so it wasn鈥檛 the best drive, and had to hit a shot around the tree and up on to the green. It looked like a pretty good shot.鈥�
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When Epp and his cousin walked over the top of the hill, they didn鈥檛 see the ball on the course. It was only when Epp peered into the hole did they figure out he made the shot in two swings on a par-five. An albatross.
鈥淚 was jumping up and down, making a bunch of noise. Just about shaking,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ever thought it would ever happen.鈥�
An albatross is when a player scores three below par, either with a hole-in-one shot on a par-four, or a two on a par-five. It鈥檚 an extremely rare bird on the golf course - puts the odds at six million to one.
Germain Francoeur, Skeena Valley golf course manager, said this is the first time he鈥檚 heard of an albatross in his eight years at the golf course. And while golfers who achieve a hole-in-one are usually marked on a plaque, an albatross is so uncommon that there鈥檚 no similar tradition to honour Epp.
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鈥淭hey鈥檙e very, very rare,鈥� Francoeur said over the phone. 鈥淚鈥檝e only heard of two in just over fifteen years at any of the facilities that I鈥檝e worked at. And just from watching golf on TV, the PGA tour pros, I might have seen one or two in the last five, 10 years.鈥�
After finishing up the round at men鈥檚 night, Epp and his cousin made their way down to start their celebrations. He said he鈥檚 keeping the ball and scorecard in a display case, right beside his hole-in-one souvenirs from nine years ago.
鈥淚f you had asked me about an albatross, I would have just shook my head and thought you were crazy,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 satisfied with one, I can check that off my golf bucket list.鈥�
brittany@terracestandard.com
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