Rodney Anders was having a good day on the links. Ryan Foll was not.
Both golfers had days to remember last week when they each buried a hole in one.
For Anders, a senior at Souderton, his hole in one came during Tuesday’s practice on the 205-yard, par-three fifth hole at the Indians’ home course, Lederach Golf Club.
“I was having a solid day,” Anders said. “I was all pars up until I made a hole in one.”
The Souderton senior didn’t know exactly how good his shot was until he reached the green.
“The pin is behind a hill, so I couldn’t see,” Anders said. “When I hit it and was watching it, I knew it was going to be close. I saw it bounce behind the hole, and I thought, ‘All right, I’m going to have a short putt for birdie.’
“When I got up there, I saw the ball mark but no ball on the green. I knew it didn’t go over, so I knew it went in. I didn’t really freak out or anything. I said, ‘No way.’”
That’s about as much celebrating as Anders did. Unfazed, he had all pars the rest of the way except for a birdie on the eighth hole, finishing with a 33.
“I think it gives you a momentum boost, a confidence boost the rest of the round,” Anders said. “Other than that, it’s just lucky.”
Fred Cicacci has coached golf at Souderton for 22 years. It is only the second time one of his players has had a hole in one – the first was Jason Hartzell.
“It’s a great thing,” the Indians’ coach said. “I was hoping it would build his confidence, and it did. He had a 38 in our match a day or two later, and on Friday, he had a 39. He had a very good week. I’m pleased and proud of Rod.”
The hole in one was actually the second in as many months for Anders, who also had a hole in one on the 140-yard, par-three 18th hole at Skippack Golf Course during a Philadelphia Junior Tournament in August.
“I wasn’t really playing that well,” Anders recalled. “I didn’t have my club that I would use for that shot, so I hit a shot I wouldn’t normally hit, and I wasn’t expecting anything out of it.
“My friends were standing behind the green, and I was like, ‘Don’t even bother watching this.’ Then I hit it, and it bounced behind the hole, spun back and went in.”
Anders channeled his passion for golf into his senior project. He and classmate Rachael Williams organized and held a benefit golf tournament on Saturday at Macoby Run Golf Course. The event – which featured 71 golfers – raised close to $5,800 with the proceeds to be donated to the American Cancer Society.
“We went around to businesses and asked them for donations for door prizes or hole sponsorships,” Anders said. “We charged $95 a person, and people donated money also.
“We had different competitions, and we also had a thing where you could buy skins and mulligans.”
Both Souderton seniors lost a close family member to cancer – Anders lost his grandfather and Williams lost an aunt.
“It definitely meant a lot to do this,” Anders said. “It wasn’t just a random senior project that you do and get it over with. It actually had meaning behind it, so it was easy to do.”
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Ryan Foll’s hole in one came on Wednesday in his team’s match against Abington at Huntingdon Valley Country Club.
“It was a hard course, and I was playing really bad,” the Falcon junior said. “I got to the tee, and I had a four iron. I just wanted to make a par because I’m playing bad, and I needed to finish well.
“I hit the shot, and it’s going right at the hole. The guy I’m playing with – Jason Bing – said, ‘Ryan, that’s a really nice shot.’ It bounces and rolls in the hole and disappears. I just dropped my club because I had no idea it went in the hole.”
Then the realization hit Foll that he had just hit a hole in one on the 199-yard, par-3 eighth hole (17th hole).
“Then I’m really shocked,” he said. “I yelled and threw my club in the air and started doing fist pumps all over, dancing around the tee box and high fiving the people I’m playing with. I was completely in shock. I had no idea what happened.”
For Foll, who says he has been golfing for four or five years, it was his first hole in one.
“I have never really come close before,” he said. “I have come close to getting it in, but then it rolls 10 feet past.”
Pennsbury coach Glenn Goldsborough was in the fairway on the seventh hole when Foll made the hole in one.
“It’s an elevated tee, and the hole is way down below, and I saw him throw his club and then started running around like a madman on the putting tee,” the Falcons’ coach said. “I was thinking, ‘Well, he either hit a really good shot or a really bad shot.’
“I got up to the tee, and I’m looking down, and they were all on the left side looking in the water for a ball. I’m thinking to myself, “Maybe it was a really bad shot,’ but then I saw Ryan walk over to the hole, bend over and look into the cup. At that point, I knew. It was great.”
For Goldsbourgh, who has been golfing for close to 29 years, it was just the second hole in one he’s seen.
“The coach I was with (Abington coach Chris Hamsher) caddied for 18 years and said he has probably had 1200 rounds, and he has only seen two,” Goldsborough said. “That was just fantastic. It was just such a neat thing to be there and experience it.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think the other kids realize how special it is because they’re young, but it’s really, really neat. What a special thing to do, especially in a competition. It’s one thing to be out with your friends, but to do it in a competition – it helped his score be one that counted.”
Foll, who got his picture taken at the hole, had two more holes to play.
“I played bad the rest of the way,” he said. “It was the only good shot I hit all day.”
It may have been his only good shot, but it was a shot Foll will remember for the rest of his life.
Notes: On Wednesday, Anders had a team low score of 38 to help Souderton eek out a 204-205 victory over Hatboro-Horsham at Talamore. His brother Clay, a junior, shot a 41. Tom Fisher and Ryan Kelly scored 36 and 37 respectively to lead the Hatters. “We always have a tough time at Talamore, and Hatboro is always our main nemesis,” Cicacci said. “Talamore is tough, and Rod had a good round there. It was really tight, and it came down to the last two golfers. His brother (Clay) came in with a 41 to seal the win by a stroke.”
North Penn had back-to-back players eagle the fourth hole at Pinecrest during a recent practice. First, it was senior Jordan Niedoski, and following her lead was junior Mason Pippert.
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