On Aug. 20, Spanish Fork junior Landon Carter was worried about the weekly varsity qualifier. Every week, the Spanish Fork golfers play in these qualifiers, and only the top eight get to play at the region meets.
Carter’s main concern was irons. He hadn’t been playing well recently and knew it was a weakness in his game, so he spent the morning exclusively working on those.
“I’d been struggling with irons pretty bad the last few weeks,” Carter said. “That morning, I actually skipped school and had a lesson like two hours before the round.”
Carter arrived at The Oaks at Spanish Fork golf course, knowing his practice would be tested as early as the second hole. The cup sits only 190 yards from the tee box, and Carter pulled out his seven iron.
He knew he got a good hit as the ball sailed right for the green. What he didn’t know was that he had just hit his first-ever hole-in-one.
Spanish Fork golf coach Jordan Rogers was nearby, watching some of his golfers tee off on the third hole.
“I’m on the 3rd hole, we’re walking up to our tee shots and we hear a little bit of yelling,” Rogers said. “So I paused what I was doing, I set my bag down, ran over to him. I was like, ‘You guys ain’t screaming for a hole-in-one, are you?’ Because it sounded more than just their normal shouts.
That was his first one, so I ran up and gave him a little football shoulder bump."
Carter continued his round and sat at around eighth for the team. He had to maintain his position to qualify for the region meet; if he fell even one spot, he’d be out.
He nearly finished his round, but then he got to No. 17: 145 yards out. Carter pulled out his pitching wedge and knew he got a solid hit.
But again, he didn’t realize he had just hit another hole-in-one.
“I hit it perfect, and I was just excited that I felt like I was finally hitting well with my irons,” Carter said. “I wasn’t looking, but my buddy goes, ‘I think that just went in.’”
Rogers was with a group a few holes back, and an assistant coach came running with the news.
“He came up to me in his cart, and he said, ‘You’re not gonna believe this, but Landon just made another one.’ I couldn’t believe it. I’ve never heard of it,” Rogers said.
Neither had the golf course. In its 44-year history, nobody has heard of another golfer achieving the same feat Carter just did.
The cherry on top was that he played just well enough to qualify for the varsity meet.
“He was the eighth man in,” said Rogers. “He beat out the ninth guy by five shots, so you do the math: If he makes a three or a four on those two holes, which is a normal score, then he’s out.”
While Carter has no delusions that one morning practice will start turning into holes-in-one, it was fulfilling for him to see practice pay off so quickly.
“It’s been a confidence booster for sure,” Carter said. “I’ve definitely excelled in the par 3s lately.”