Southwest Florida golf column: 95-year-old Estero resident makes hole-in-one

Skip Shrader headed out to play with his regular foursome on Jan. 12 at Estero Country Club.

But the day was anything but regular for Shrader.

The 95-year-old Missouri native made a hole-in-one on the 102-yard No. 17 with a 3-wood.

“When I hit the shot, I was hoping it didn’t go into the brush on the right," Shrader said in a release. "I am not that great a player. It was then that my guys yelled that my shot made the hole!”

Shrader, who has been a member at the club since 1997, started playing golf in his 60s. The ace was his second, with the other happening on the same hole. Shrader also shot his age on his 78th birthday, and he made an eagle on the 244-yard, par-4 12th.

“We couldn’t be more pleased for Mr. Shrader," Estero CC head professional Ben Pittman said in a release. "I only hope at 95 I am having as much fun out there as he is."

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Fort Myers LPGA event seeking volunteers: Next week's LPGA Drive On Championship at Crown Colony in Fort Myers which is Thursday through Saturday is looking for walking scorers and marshals. There also are needs for scoreboards, scoring control and scoring tents.

A reminder that there are no ticket sales to the general public for the tournament, and it will be only streamed through Golf Channel and the Peacock apps. Contact Alex Graf at alex.graf@lpga.com.

Penn State Naples Chapter Golf Tournament: Saturday, Feb. 12 at Quail Run Golf Club. Benefits the Scholarship Fund of the Penn State Alumni Chapter of Naples. Registration, 8 a.m. Shotgun start, 8:30 a.m. Entry fee, $100 if paid by Feb. 5, or $105 after. For more information, contact Neal Biege at 610-441-5665 or PSUBoat@gmail.com.

Big East Challenge Golf Outing: Saturday, Feb. 26 at Quail Run Golf Club. Benefits the Scholarship Funds of participating schools' alumni clubs of Naples. Registration, 8 a.m. Shotgun start, 8:30 a.m. Entry fee, $100 if paid by Feb. 18 or $110 after. For more information, contact Terry Creegan at 651-336-2993 or bucko945@msn.com.

Incoming FGCU freshman: Lukas Roessler shot a final-round 67 on Sunday to tie for 17th in the Latin America Amateur Championship in the Dominican Republic.

Roessler, who represented Chile, posted a four-round score of 289 (74-74-74-67) and was three strokes out of a top-10 finish. He had five birdies and no bogeys in the final round.

Roessler signed with the Eagles during the November early signing period.

Tiburon Golf Academy: Offering two adult instructional programs in January. Level 1 is for golfers with at least a few years of experience, and is Saturdays and started Jan. 8 from 8 to 10 a.m., with one hour on short game and one hour on full swing, with Trackman and video analysis. Cost, $295. Level 2 is for new golfers, and also is on Saturdays and also started Jan. 8, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Cost, $295. For more information, call 593-2201.

On Feb. 5 from 1 to 4:30 p.m., Tiburón will be holding a Wedge Craft Clinic for those golfers who want to improve their golf games from 100 yards and in. It will be from 1:00-4:30. Dr. Rob Neal, a golf biomechanist and wedge expert, will be leading the training. Contact Tom O'Brien for more information at 250-3164.

Rodney Bungartz clinics: Play Golf For Life sessions start Monday, Jan. 31 and continue the following three Mondays, all from 4 to 5 p.m. They are for adults at any entry level. Session 1, putting; Session 2, chipping; Session 3, full swing; Session 4, full swing. Cost, $115 and golf clubs are available. Contact Bungartz at Arrowhead at 596-1000 or rbungartz@pga.com.

Club Champion: The club-fitting company began a 50% discount on fittings with an equipment purchase of $500 or more, until Jan. 31.

The new Naples store also is open at 13555 Tamiami Trail N Unit 3.

The promotion includes all club fitting, but a putter fitting only requires a purchase of a new putter for the discount to apply.

Promotional fitting costs: Full Bag Fitting — $200; Long Game Fitting — $125; Driver Fitting — $87.50; Iron Fitting — $87.50; Fairway/Hybrid Fitting — $62.50; Putter Fitting — $62.50; Wedge Fitting — $50

For more information or to book an appointment, go to clubchampiongolf.com.

Impact Zone Golf: Bobby Clampett and his instructional staff are available for private, group, and corporate lessons, as well as New Student Assessments at both IZG Academies, which are located in Naples at the Indoor Performance Center at 1040 Collier Center Way and in Fort Myers, at the Academy at the Club at Renaissance at the intersection of Daniels Parkway and Interstate 75.

Junior After School Program for ages 7-18 began Sept. 1 on Wednesday and/or Friday afternoons from 4:30 to 6 p.m. For kids ages 3-6, the FUNdamentals class runs on Saturdays from 1;30 to 2:15 p.m. all year. Both programs at the Club at Renaissance in Fort Myers. Private or semi-private instruction is conducted at both Naples and Fort Myers academy locations.

Impact Zone Golf is the first in Southwest Florida to use the new national U.S. Player Development Model for Junior Golf, through a partnership with U.S. Kids Player Pathways. This model is used within all of Impact Zone Golf’s junior programming.

To sign up or for more information on any program, contact Olivia at omesner@impactzonegolf. com or call/text 239-236-5536.

Durland Golf School: Mark Durland, who is located at Naples Grande, is available for lessons from Monday through Saturday.

Golf schools are based on a 3-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio with all instruction conducted by Durland. He also is available for lessons via Zoom.

The Ladies Learning Club with Samantha Morrell, with Wednesday sessions at 9:15 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Tuition is $50 per student per session. Contact Morrell at ladieslearningclub@gmail.com.

To submit an item, send an email to ghardwig@naplesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Golf column: 95-year-old Estero resident makes hole-in-one