Gavin Keefe: A rare feat: Four golfers, four birdies at Great Neck

Aug. 25—A foursome went out for a casual round of golf on a recent Sunday and came back to the clubhouse with an interesting story to tell.

Every golfer in a group that included Jim Butler of New London, Jim Williams of East Lyme, retired Waterford police officer Hugh Bell and Robert Mills of Waterford recorded a birdie on the par 3, 14th hole at Great Neck Country Club in Waterford. The distance was about 145 yards.

"The odds are rare, especially for them," Great Neck pro Kevin Shea said. "Their average handicap is 20. For four scratch golfers, that's hard to do."

"They were all excited about it."

Butler and Williams, an MIT graduate, figured out that the odds of four golfers each ringing up a birdie on the same hole are one in 1.68 million. Handicaps in the group range from 14 to 25.

"Just to have four guys on the green at our level is like holy crow," Butler said.

Every Sunday, anywhere from two dozen to 30 guys play in what is called the Byles Group, named after Donny Byles. That particular day, golfers were randomly assigned a team.

Here's a rundown of what happened after all four golfers put their tee shots on the green:

"Hughie has a downhill putt, probably a 20-footer, and it's not an easy putt," Butler said. "Well, he drains it.

"I'm next, and I've got an 18-footer and I'm coming up the hill. I was way over to the left and I've got a bender to the right. I drained it like it was easy. I don't know what the hell happened. I made a putt for a change."

At that point, the foursome had already picked up four strokes toward their team score. Williams and Mills decided to finish the hole.

"Robert has got an 8-10 footer," Butler said. "Boom! He knocks it in. Now I'm feeling bad for my buddy Jimmy Williams. I'm thinking to myself, you look like a schmuck if you miss. He drains a six-footer.

Then the celebration began.

"We were hooting and hollering," Butler said.

It's a day that the foursome will always remember. Plus, they won the team competition.

"This was pretty special," Butler said. "Nobody we know has ever done it."

A former track and cross country coach at Connecticut College, Butler replaced his running shoes with golf shoes. A day on the golf course is more enjoyable and far less painful than distance running.

He plays six days a week at Great Neck.

"I knew I was getting out of coaching and I needed something to compete at," Butler said of the switch. "When I did retire, my athletes and alums gave me a beautiful gift of a gift certificate to Chris Cote Golf. I'm still playing with the fitted clubs I got from him."

"I joined Great Neck Country Club 10 years ago. Life is good. I live six minutes from the course. It's terrific."

Butler and his pals weren't the first and won't be the last golfers to celebrate a noteworthy accomplishment on the 14th, the shortest hole on the course.

There are more aces there — five since late May — than any other hole at Great Neck.

No count on the number of birdies. At least four, thanks to Butler's foursome.

Short putts

— Golf rounds are up and rainfall is way down this summer, creating some challenges for area courses.

Great Neck is surviving just fine. The course remains in great shape despite a lack of rain. The staff is doing a lot of watering by hand, especially the greens.

"We have a pond on No. 10, that's our main source (of water)," Shea said recently. "It definitely goes down but we have enough water there. We definitely could use some natural rain to cover all the areas out there on the golf course. Irrigation heads only do so much."

— Kit Bryan captured her 13th Elmridge women's club championship Tuesday. She won her first title back in 1994.

— Earlier this month, Stonington Country Club held its Championship Day. Michael Hawley won his seventh men's club championship, beating Diederick van der Velde, 1 up, on Aug. 7. Defending champion Zorah Williams of Mystic defeated four-time champion Anne-Marie van der Velde, 3 and 1, in the women's title match.

— In the most recently updated standings, Andy MacMahon is the Elmridge Golf Course men's club points leader with 1,031 points. Karl Saila is second with 930 and Bob Gebler third with 908.

— Corey Jones and Jessica Hewitt of Shennecossett placed 23rd in the Connecticut State Golf Association's 85th Mixed Team Championship last week at Watertown Golf Club. They won the title last summer. The winning duo of Brett Franklin and Annie Desanto shot a 1-under 70.

— Steven Ferraro of Quinnatisset Country Club in Thompson and Bill Hermanson of Black Hall Club in Old Lyme were the only two local golfers to make the cut and play all three rounds at the 35th Connecticut Mid-Amateur, which finished up on Wednesday at the Country Club of New Canaan.

Ferraro placed third with a total of 2-under 208 (68-69-71). Hermanson tied for 22nd with a 227 (71-74-82).

Richard Dowling of the Golf Performance Center defended his Mid-Amateur title, posting a 9-under 201 (65-68-68) to win by five strokes.

— Dustin Witala, a 12-year-old from Charlestown, R.I., recently joined the hole-in-one club. He used a nine iron to ace the 14th hole at Wood River Golf Course in Hopkinton. The yardage is listed at 285 yards for the par four hole, which features an upside down V layout that gives golfers a shot at the green by chipping over tall pine trees on the left side.

Upcoming events

— The Black Hall men's club championship final round action is set for Sunday.

— Competition for the club championships at Great Neck is underway. Finals in each category is Monday, Sept. 5.

— The Connecticut Assistant PGA Championship will run Monday at Hop Meadow Country Club in Simsbury.

— Also on Monday, the CSGA's 86th Father Son Championship tees off at Torrington Country Club.

— The Mohegan Sun Golf Club in Baltic will host the PGA Pro-Veteran tournament on Sept. 7.

— Shennecossett will host a CSGA one day event on Sept. 12. Registration deadline is Aug. 30.

Please send golf results, hole-in-one information, etc., to g.keefe@theday.com