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A high school golfer made 2 aces in 9 holes to defy 67 million to 1 odds

By Mark Wogenrich
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A high school golfer made 2 aces in 9 holes to defy 67 million to 1 odds

When his second hole in one fell Monday afternoon, Ben Tetzlaff fell to the ground, saying, "What the heck just happened?" A day later, the Parkland High golfer remained stunned.

"I still can't believe it, and I was the one who did it," Tetzlaff said. "So I can't imagine being someone who didn't see it trying to believe it."

Tetzlaff, a 17-year-old senior, accomplished a rare feat Monday, making two holes in the same round of golf. In fact, he did so playing just nine holes in a practice round with his Parkland High golf team, acing the second and sixth holes at Iron Lakes Country Club in North Whitehall Township.

According to the National Hole-in-One Registry, the odds of Tetzlaff's achievement are 67 million to 1, about six times greater than winning a $1 million Powerball prize. Parkland golf coach Scott Levan witnessed the second hole-in-one but missed the first, though he did hear Tetzlaff shout, "Oh my gosh, did it go in?"

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"I know a couple guys who waited 60 years between holes-in-one, but I've never seen someone wait 40 minutes," Levan said. "I've never had one, so I still have a shot to beat his record."

Tetzlaff, who has been playing golf for five years, had not made a hole-in-one before Monday. First, he hit a gap wedge to Iron Lakes' 104-yard second hole, watching the ball spin close without seeing it fall.

After pocketing that golf ball for safekeeping, Tetzlaff then hit a 9-iron to the 140-yard sixth hole. That shot took a "perfect line," he said, bounced once and disappeared.

"My friend [and witness John Angelella] sprinted around the water, he saw the ball in the hole and I fell to my knees," Tetzlaff said. "It was like, What the heck just happened? How do you do that? It's not a natural thing."

Tetzlaff had another good day Tuesday at Iron Lakes. He shot a round of 78 to help Parkland edge formerly unbeaten Emmaus, District 11's top-ranked Class 3A team, by one stroke in their Eastern Pennsylvania Conference match.

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Tetzlaff, whose career-low round is a 76 at Allentown Municipal, said he plans to play golf in college. He also will compete in this weekend's Lehigh Valley Junior Amateur at Green Pond Country Club in Bethlehem Township.

Also on the schedule: what to buy his teammates to commemorate the day.

"He was too excited, so I didn't want to tell Ben that his college fund might be drained," Levan said. "So I had to tell his dad that."

This article was written by Mark Wogenrich from The Morning Call and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.