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Ace in the hole Meet Carmen Akins. There, now that formal introductions are out of the way, you will not see that name here again. It's a lovely name, yes, but inappropriate. With a nod toward truth in labeling, hereafter she will be known as "Ace." Our Ace had a hole-in-one Wednesday at StoneRidge Golf Club. She used an 11-wood on the 144-yard 12th hole that, really, with a back-right pin placement, was more like 155 yards and harder to get to than a molar that needs flossing. So what, you say? There are holes-in-one every day? True, and at the rate Ace is going, it seems like she has one every day. This was her fifth hole-in-one in 10 months. That's right, F-I-V-E of these badge-of-honor shots that all golfers, at some point, long to experience. She collects them like most of us gather discarded tees or balls that have left their masters. "It's getting to be kind of spooky," Ace says with a laugh. There is both luck and skill involved in this rare shot. The amounts of each vary depending on the golfer and the conditions, I suppose. Pat Akins, Ace's husband, is the head professional at StoneRidge. He notes that two of the most-skilled players - Davis Love III and Fred Couples - had been on the PGA Tour for years before either got an ace. When they did, they did so within a month or so of each other, suggesting luck played a big part. "I haven't seen anything like this," Akins says of his wife's binge, "and some people play golf every day. That gives them four chances every day, 365 days a year, to get one." Ace's first ace actually came in 1983. She'd been playing only a few years when she and her partners all hit to an elevated green. All appeared to be on, but when they got to the green, only three balls were visible. Ace's was in the cup. "I hadn't had any since, then five this year," she marvels. The first came in September, when, on the third hole at Eagle Point, she covered 90 yards with a pitching wedge. In an October tournament at Charbonneau in Wilsonville, she hit a 3-wood 189 yards and into the hole. In March, it was again at Eagle Point. Same hole, same yardage, different partner. Unlike for the others, her husband was there. "We got to the tee and she was telling me she got one here before," recalls Pat Akins, "then she hits a wedge, it takes one hop and goes into the hole. I said, 'Like that?' She said, 'Yep, just like that.'" In a June tournament at Eastmoreland in Portland, Ace and her playing partners each ponied up $5 on a particular par 3. A hole-in-one qualified the shooter for a million-dollar, closest-to-the-pin shootout in Las Vegas. You guessed it. Ace used a 7-iron from 135 yards. She made the shootout but, she says, a sponsor subsequently backed out of the deal. Instead of a KP contest, it would now take a hole-in-one to win the $1 million. The trip was worth $1,000, and if Ace took it, she would have had to give up her amateur status. For the KP, she would have done it. "Geez," she says, "you could skull one and be the closest for a million bucks. You'd have to go for it. It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance." But not for a hole-in-one. Not even Ace can hit them on demand. She took as her prize a $500 gift certificate to Meier and Frank, an amount that allowed her to keep her amateur status. The fifth hole-in-one, as stated, happened this week. Ace, by the way, plays in the men's club at StoneRidge and hits from the white tees like everyone else. At the 12th hole, there was confusion after she hit. One of her partners, Otis Applegate, thought her tee shot hit the pin. Ace thought it hit and plugged some 5 feet from below the pin. This was because they could all still see the ball. "It was lodged between the pole and the cup," she says. When she arrived at the green, members of the group ahead of her's were beside themselves. They congratulated Ace profusely but thought her manner a bit reserved. "They were giving me a bad time, saying, 'You didn't even jump up and down and scream and holler or anything,'" she says. Well, it's old hat. Pat Akins met his wife of 21 years when he was working at Forest Hills Country Club in Reedsport. A softball player long on athleticism, she had recently taken up golf and decided to buy her own clubs. Akins instead sold her on lessons. A short while later, they were married. "When we met," says Pat Akins, "she was a 36-handicapper. Now she's down to a 2." Ace's strength is her short game. The pro in the family says if he had her game from within 80 yards, he might be able to play on tour. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have nothing on Ace around the green, he insists. "She can get it up and down from the garbage," he says. "It's just incredible." More impressively, she can get it down from the tee box. Have a local golf story idea? Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.