KEY POINTS:
Victorian professional Martin Doyle had a couple of messages for Michael Hill after scoring the first hole in one at The Hills yesterday.
Asked what he thought of the course, he replied: "I love it."
Then, when asked how he felt about scoring an ace on the hole which did not offer a prize of a new BMW, he said: "You can tell Mr Hill if the car doesn't go off, he can get my home address.
"I mean, a $220,000 BMW would be a lot nicer than just a 2 under par on the seventh, but you've got to take it [holes in one] when you get them."
For the record Doyle scored a regulation par 3 on the 10th hole, the BMW hole.
Doyle, 34, who turned professional in 1997, has played in the New Zealand Open a handful of times and still recalls with obvious relish the day he partnered world No. 1 Tiger Woods at Paraparaumu in 2002. "It was fantastic." So too was the 5 iron he struck on the 189m seventh hole.
"It was a good shot ... it landed about 6m short [of the flag], took one bounce straight at it and just rolled in the hole ... it never looked like missing; it was either going to hit the flag or go in, one or the other."
Doyle, who has had six top 10 finishes on the Australasian tour, said he had now scored eight holes in one in his career but this was his first in a "proper" tournament.
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES
