Time seems to fly by faster and faster as we get older. Before we know it, too much time has passed and we realize we’ve missed the chance to enjoy certain moments – the story-making events of our lives.

With the passing of our father, years ago, and my mother at the wise age of 81, one of my older brothers (I’ll use his nickname), Gimbo, let me in on one of his dreams. He said, “After dad passed away, I got the idea to take Mom and the rest of us to play at Pebble… And guess what? I think I have enough money saved to treat everyone now… me, you, Rick and mom will be the foursome.”

Flash forward to the signature 7th hole, at Pebble. The two caddies gave us the range and Gimbo opts for his Vokey 56-degree… He gives it a smooth swing… Up into the air with a very slight draw… or perhaps it was that sudden gust of wind… either way, the shot looked good on the way down… and… ‘BLIP,’ it disappears from sight. We’re all standing on the tee, partially unsure and partially in disbelief. Did it go long into the back bunker? Were our eyes playing tricks? Did it go straight into the cup? Silence. I thought I saw it just slam straight in, but I’ve never seen a hole-in-one that didn’t hit the green first and roll in. In fact, I’ve never seen a live hole-in-one before. Can that happen?

We make our way down to the green. Amazingly, Gimbo knocked a small dent into the side of the hole… and there was his Pro V1, in the cup. His first hole-in-one, the first I’ve ever seen, on Pebble’s signature hole, and on our faithful trip to Pebble with our always proud mother.

Now, I’m not usually one to believe in spirits… or coincidences… or even good karma. But if one even remotely believed our father was still looking out for us, one might believe coincidences are the most planned things in the world.

Time is going to keep flying, but this is one moment, a story-making event of our lives… a cherished memory that we all shared and will reach for, in the years to come.

- Photo of my brother getting his official hole-in-one certificate... and me hoping some of the glory rubs off one day ;-)