Lots of golfers will be hitting the links this Fourth of July weekend -- some with dreams of making a hole-in-one. Best friends Butch Harris and Mike Dennis have made hole-in-ones routine.
"The thing that's exciting is I got to see your 18th hole-in-one,” Harris said to Dennis recently. “For five years, I held the lead at 17, and you finally -- in one month -- you made two of them to pass me up."The odds of making a hole in one are 12,000-to-1 -- it's an incredibly rare feat.
But for Dennis and Harris, scoring an "ace" almost has become a common occurrence. Combined, these two golfing buddies have made 35 holes-in-one.
The 68-year-old Dennis has 18: In fact, a couple of months ago he made two here on the 14th hole at River Hills Country Club just seven days apart.
"There's a lot of luck involved in making a hole-in-one,” Dennis said, “and I have had some really good people helping me with my golf swing, and I started getting more and more of them."
And an even bigger rarity -- Dennis has made two holes-in-one on Par 4s.
“I have always been blessed and everything I have done,” Dennis said. “I give God the credit for it."
Harris, who has 17 career aces, shares a common bond with his brother, Dallas, who has four holes-in-one himself: They both aced No. 4 at River Hills a week apart.
"Hitting the same club, same golf ball, hitting Titleist from 140 yards with wedges," said Dallas Harris. “It's pretty unusual."
"The odds of doing that, though, were so much greater, and for us to do that we have that lasting memory," said Butch Harris. "And there could be more memories to be made, because you just never know when and where that next hole-in-one will happen.
