Jono and Ben from The Hits Breakfast spent two days trying for an elusive Hole in One at Lake Taupō. Photo / Laurilee McMichael
Jono and Ben from The Hits Breakfast spent two days trying for an elusive Hole in One at Lake Taupō. Photo / Laurilee McMichael
Jono and Ben of The Hits Breakfast wanted to give away $10,000 to a listener. But, there was a problem. No money.
So the pair and their production team came up with a compromise - set Jono and Ben out to win the money, which they could then give away to a listener.
Taupō's Hole in One came to the party and last Friday and Saturday the pair were down at the lakefront for the 10K Tee Off, aiming to sink the elusive hole in one and give away the cash. Over the preceding weeks, listeners had been ringing up to win the chance to have their name on a numbered ball. If that ball went in the hole, the money was theirs.
If neither Jono nor Ben was able to hit the hole in one and win the money, they would give $10,000 anyway to a listener, to be drawn last Monday morning.
When the Taupō & Tūrangi Weekender wandered down on the first day, things weren't looking good. It was clearly taking the boys some time to get their eyes in as between them they had it more than 300 balls with no sign of getting anywhere near the red $10,000 pin.
With the pontoon 120 metres offshore or about the length of the first shot on a par three, accuracy rather than power was the idea, with the aim being to get the ball as high as possible and then have it drop down into the hole. Ben was hitting with a nine iron and Jono had a pitching wedge.
Jono, with Ben looking on, gives it his best shot. Photo / Laurilee McMichael
Jono and Ben are not regular golfers although they had had some tips at the driving range from golf professional (and former Taupō man) Phil Tataurangi in the lead-up. However Phil soon realised both Jono and Ben lacked any real golfing ability.
"Phil showed us how he can play," said Jono, "if he was down here he'd get it in. But he's a good golfer. We're useless. It's harder than it looks."
Despite lack of golfing talent, the two radio personalities looked the part, wearing traditional golf garb with a preppy twist (checked trousers, polo shirts and flat caps) and were doing "better than expected", having hit the pontoon a number of times.
To avoid a sports injury the pair were taking regular breaks, which also gave them a chance to chat to the crowd that had gathered to watch their efforts. People were mostly encouraging, although they said there had been a bit of heckling, the worst of it from a four-year-old girl.
"Most come and watch for about 10 minutes but then lose interest and realise we're never going to hit it in and move on."
Jono described the pair's form as "inconsistent" while Ben admitted that while he had hit the pontoon a couple of times, "we've hit the lake a lot more times".
Are they gun golfers? Ben thought not.
"We're not even gun broadcasters. I can't remember the last time I played golf but I 've always driven past (the Hole in One) and thought it would be really cool to nail it ... but I'm starting to question whether there's even a hole there."
If you're wondering whether the boys made the Hole in One, the answer is no. Instead, listener Amy of Whangamata was drawn from the pile of names and won the cash last Monday.
