Mike and Joyce Sedler assumed it would be just another fun round of golf with friends when they stepped on the first tee box last Thursday at Latah Creek Golf Course.
And for six holes it was just that.
But when Joyce stepped up to the 125-yard, par-3 seventh hole with a 5-hybrid in hand, the day began to take a turn that defies odds.
Both Joyce and Mike walked away from their rounds celebrating a hole-in-one, with Joyce’s ace coming on the seventh hole and Mike following suit on the 17th.
“We’re retired now, so we are able to get out a few times a week and are able to play together quite a bit as well,” Mike Sedler said.
“And we were playing with some good friends that day and so that made it extra special because they were probably more excited for us than we were,” Joyce Sedler added.
The pair’s first ace of the day came courtesy of Joyce, who hit a hybrid onto the front of the seventh green, before the ball rolled toward the hole and came to rest in the bottom of the cup for her first-career hole-in-one.
“I hit it and I saw it was going straight at the pin,” Joyce said.
But it was Mike that had the best vantage point of the make.
“I was in my cart and saw it land on the front of the green and start rolling in,” Mike said. “I kind of stood up in the cart and when it hit I got that sensation that it might go in for her and then I heard it hit the pin.”
The pair said the group then raced up to the green where they found Joyce’s ball in the hole.
“We just jumped up and down and I think everyone on the holes around us heard the screaming, so that was so much fun,” Joyce said.
But in her moment of celebration, Joyce was also quick to think of her husband of 47 years joining in on the fun.
“I was so thrilled for Joyce the rest of that round,” Mike said. “And then she said ‘well you never know, maybe you’ll get one too’ and I thought that was so sweet, but I told her ‘no, this is your day.’ ”
Until 10 holes later when it became their day.
That moment came on the 160-yard par-3 17th hole, where Mike flushed a five iron to a semiblind green.
“I hit mine and felt like it was on the green,” Mike said. “But as I got closer I didn’t see it. I saw there was a sand trap, so I looked there. Then I looked behind the green and then didn’t see it there either.
“So I ran up and looked in the hole and as everyone else got to the green I just said ‘oh my gosh, you aren’t going to believe this,’” Mike added.
Not only were the Sedler’s able to celebrate the achievements with their friends Chris and Ken Strandberg, but also with each other – a pair of moments they will never forget.
“We love each other and love getting to do so many things together, golf being one of those things,” Mike said. “We have kids and love playing with them too, but being together and having accomplished this incredible feat with each other really makes it the most special memory.”