Good things come to those who keep playing!!

Hole in one for woman, 95
Her first in 77 years of playing: 7-iron shot finds hole 114 yards away

Brad Ziemer, Vancouver Sun

Published: Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Just before she struck the shot of her life, 95-year-old Vivian Barr reached into her golf bag and grabbed an old Titleist ball to hit on Point Grey's par-3 second hole.

There was water to shoot over, after all, and Barr did not want to lose one of her new personally engraved Nike balls that she normally uses during the two or three rounds a week she regularly logs at the Southwest Marine Drive private course.

Instead of finding the water, Barr's ball ended up in the bottom of the cup for her first hole in one.

"It was unbelievable," Barr says of her seven-iron shot from about 114 yards. "It landed just short of the green and ran up and dropped into the hole. I've had my ball stop on the edge so many times in the past.

"Normally I'm playing a Nike ball, but this was a Titleist which had been used a bit. We have a lake on the second hole and I just didn't want to put my Nike in the water because it has my name on it. So I used the Titleist. I knew it was going straight when I hit it. I knew it was going to be OK, and when it hit the green it started to run straight toward the cup. I said don't hit the pin and bounce sideways or something."

Now an honorary member, Barr joined Point Grey back in 1948.

"And I don't want you telling me that was before you were born," she says with a chuckle.

She recorded the ace last week in her regular Tuesday women's league match.

"Everybody was very happy," says Barr, who bought the house drinks after her round. "There were lots of hugs."

Point Grey head pro Jeff Buder says the whole club was delighted for Barr.

"It's pretty neat and it's especially cool because it was her first one and she is such a nice person as well," says Buder. "All the members are so happy for her."

Barr, who also is a regular 10-pin bowler, has advice for longtime golfers yet to register a hole-in-one.

"Don't give up," she says. "I figure mine took me about 77 years."