Here’s a hole-in-one story you don’t hear every day: St. Joseph junior John Lindenau hit his first hole-in-one, but it didn’t count because it went in the wrong direction.
First a little history on Lindenau, who picked up golf only three years ago. His family is from New Jersey, and moved to the Big Island five years ago.
Even though, he’s supposed to be a New York Giants or Jets fans, Lindenau counts the Kansas City Chiefs as his favorite NFL team. It could possibly be that the Chiefs’ hat almost matches the school red color of the Cardinals.
His PGA golfing role model is none other than Tiger Woods, the guy with a bad back, still four short of the Golden Bear’s 18 major championships.
“He doesn’t stop trying. He keeps pushing through and I admire that,” Lindenau said.
If there’s one big question in all of golf, it’s this: Will Tiger win another major and get back on his Jack Nicklaus history chase?
“I believe he’ll win another major,” Lindenau said.
Well, back to Lindenau. He teed off in the last group with Keaau’s Zack Dorn in the BIIF season-opener on Wednesday at Hilo Muni.
They placed at the bottom of the leaderboard. Dorn finished with a 132 and Lindenau was behind with a 151. Par is 71.
Lindenau’s ace didn’t help his score at all. That’s because the ball went in the wrong hole. He teed off at the par 5 first hole, but his drive went far, far right, and hopped in the par 4 ninth hole.
Wrong hole, but still an impressive shot. It’s not every day someone hits an ace at the wrong hole.
“I lined up and on my backswing something didn’t feel right, but I powered through,” he said. “It started going far right, more than I thought. It landed on the green and rolled into the hole. I had cheers from everyone. It was beautiful, and my first ever.”
Tiger Woods may have 14 majors, and a bunch of aces in his career, but in all likelihood he’s never had a hole-in-one like Lindenau, the enthusiastic Cardinal who’s a proud Chief and unique golfer.
