It’s very rare that you will even see a hole-in-one whilst playing, let alone hit one yourself. Yet when there are over 37,000 participants playing in the Volkswagen Scramble each season, there is a small likelihood of a few stories to be told.

The tale of two aces:

There was magic in the air on Sunday 19 January when Capel Golf Club played host to the mixed open Volkswagen Scramble. For one lucky punter, the day was extra special.

When Simon Callum stepped up to play the 177 metre par 3 17^th hole, he didn’t expect what happened next.

“The pin was in the back right corner where the green sloped to, I selected a 5 iron and was hoping to get near the front of the green for an up and down,” Callum said.

The conditions on the day were said to be centimeter perfect with all but a breath of wind. The hole itself had an elevated tee box looking straight down to the green that was flanked on both sides by sand.

When asked how his form was leading into the Scramble, Callum replied, “I’d been playing once a week and managed a few good rounds over the Christmas period and had won the previous week in a better ball competition with 50 Stableford points.”

To much surprise, Callum described his shot as though it shouldn’t have been an ace.

“It felt ugly like I was standing too close to the ball and turned away, and all of the sudden arms were thrown in the air as someone yelled “it’s gone in”. Unbelievable!”

While hole-in-one celebrations often vary from person to person Callum was a bit taken aback.

“Yeah it was a bit surreal at first, but that’s golf, you just take the good with the bad. I’m still getting a lot of smiles and handshakes at the club which is great.”

Buoyed by the ace, Callum and his team rallied on to win the day finishing on 55.5.

“It was a lot of fun and we have qualified for the next VW round in Perth in March so I’m looking forward to that. Thanks to Capel Golf Club and Volkswagen for hosting the event and to my colourful playing partners.”

A self described golf addict, Ash Litter fell in love with the game a little over three years ago.

Most people would be envious to hear Litter is already off a handicap of 13 after only taking the game up a few years back.

“I try to get out and practice every day whether it’s playing a few holes or hitting balls on the range,” Litter said.

“It’s good to finally hit the little white thing straight. This year I have set a few goals in place, the main one being a single figure handicap so I think with a bit more time and patience I should be around the mark.”

On a Sunday afternoon in February, Litter and his team tee’d it up at Thaxted Park Golf Course for the Volkswagen Scramble. The conditions for the day were pretty tough, it was very windy and not the day you’d pick someone to hit a hole-in-one.

Despite the weather good form and luck were on Litter’s side.

“We had just birdied the par 5 14th so we were all pumped up heading to the 15th 108m par 3. We got to the tee block and I decided to tee off first, the wind was directly coming towards us.

“The hole has a bunker behind the green and a hazard area around the right hand side and front of green so any shot not on the green you’re in a bit of trouble.”

Litter used a wedge and when asked to describe the shot, didn’t think it would have been ‘the one’.

“As soon as it was hit, it felt like a nice shot of the club face but I definitely wasn’t expecting what was to come. The ball landed two to three metres past the hole and pulled back down the hill, the ball was tracking towards the hole so slow which made the anticipation that much better,” he said.

Litter celebrated by throwing his club in the air and started running towards the hole.

”It was probably the quickest 20 metre sprint I’d done.”

Litter and his team finished a respectable fourth place, with a score of 58.

“My golf game after that hole wasn’t pretty as it took a few holes to compose myself again but at the end of the day the team did pretty well.  Already can’t wait for next year’s Scramble and hopefully we can go a few better.”