There’s a time-honored tradition of buying drinks for playing partners after striking a hole-in-one, but apparently being only 12 years old gets you off the hook.
Monday, Shane Sundberg aced the par-3, 182-yard sixth hole at the Fairbanks Golf Course with a 5-wood. With his first hole-in-one, Sundberg became the youngest player to sink his tee shot at Fairbanks Golf Course.
Sundberg said he was aware of the tradition of buying drinks for playing partners, and he’s not quite sure how he got off the hook for doing that.
What he does know is how to strike a golf ball.
“It was 182 yards and I hit a 5-wood,” Sundberg said. “It landed right before the green and it rolled up and into the hole.”
Sundberg said it was just the shot he envisioned, with one exception.
“I thought it was going to be on the green,” he said. “I never thought it would be in the hole. I was pretty shocked.”
Sundberg said he has been close to getting a hole-in-one on the eighth hole at Birch Ridge a few times, at one point getting within 4 inches.
The ace had some added history because it came during Monday’s and Tuesday’s Fairbanks Junior Masters, an event of the Alaska Junior Golf Association. There also has never been a hole-in-one at an AJGA event.
Sundberg had rounds of 44 and 49 on the par 36 course to win the 10- to 12-year-old age group, while his sister, Keely, won the 8- to 11-year-old age group with rounds of 61 and 64.
The Sundbergs also had success at the Polar Bear Open on June 5 at Settlers Bay Golf Course in Wasilla. Shane had a 2-over-par 37 to win his age group, while Keely was victorious with a 57.
