1 in a million, hole-in-one

J.J. Atalig in action during the 2023 Pacific Mini Games on Saipan. ANDO AGULTO

Luck plays a big part in making a hole-in-one.

And consider yourself the luckiest of luckiest when you manage to make the ace in a tournament and drive home—as the late great Bob Barker would say it—with a brand-new car.

Such were the cases for Justin Mizutani and John Terlaje, who made those elusive shots during this year’s 14th Annual Saipan Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament and NMC Golf Open, respectively, at the Laolao Bay Golf & Resort.

Those epic shots—Mizutani on hole No. 3 last June and Terlaje on hole No. 4 last March—gave them a new set of wheels, a 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander ES for the former and a 2023 Hyundai IONIQ 5 SEL for the latter, both from Triple J Motors.

Aside from hole-in-one winners in the same year—perhaps the first in CNMI history such a deed happened—Mizutani and Terlaje are also similar because they’re not really what you’d call the Commonwealth’s top golfers, with nary a major tournament between them.

But such is the roll of the dice in swinging a hole-in-one, which is as rare as a no-hitter or perfect game in baseball or rolling a 300 in bowling—also called a perfect game.

Curiously, only a handful of the islands’ top golfers have achieved a hole-in-one and none of them turned the trick in a major tournament.

Laolao Bay Golf & Resort pro Joe “Kamikaze” Camacho have had several holes-in-one, the latest of which was during the second qualifier for the CNMI National Golf Team for the 2023 Pacific Games in Honiara, Solomon Islands last Sept. 19.

Curiously enough, the 62-year-old many-time national golfer made his latest hole-in-one was on the same exact hole at Laolao where he also made an ace on March 27, 2020.

Before that, the golfer known for wearing camo shorts made a hole-in-one in 2021 in Hawks Prairie at Woodlands in Washington state. Incidentally, that was during a Callaway pro-am tournament and, as is customary for hole-in-one golfers, Camacho spent $300 on drinks for his golfing buddies.

“But it was worth it because I won about $2,000,” he said.

As for local tournament holes-in-one, Camacho said the closest he’d gotten was his golf ball landing 3 feet from the hole.

“It’s probably because on tournament days my real focus is more on scoring rather than an ace. I know what the odds are but, man, if it happens, then it’s like hitting the cycle in baseball,” he said.

Another many-time national golfer, J.J. Atalig, has a pragmatic approach when it comes to holes-in-one.

“A hole-in-one is pure luck. Even the best players in the world don’t get a hole-in-one on a regular basis. The high handicap players may get a hole-in-one before lower handicap players on the playing field.”

Atalig said he’s been playing golf for 13 years and after so many hundreds of rounds of play, he’s gotten a grand total of just one ace.

“That was 13 years ago at Coral Ocean Resort’s No. 14 hole. …I was just excited that it went in the hole. It was a club monthly tournament with Exclusive Golf Association. It was the first club I joined when I became a golfer,” said the Division of Customs officer.

Like Camacho, Atalig treated his friends and golf pals to a round of drinks.

“In golf a hole-in-one is pure luck. If the golf gods are with you, it is your lucky day,” he said.

Franco Santos, who topped qualifiers for the CNMI National Golf Team for Honiara, has yet to whiff the rare hole-in-one air.

“Hole-in-one is all about luck being on your side. I’ve been playing for 13 years and I still haven’t made a hole-in-one. I had many opportunities and I’m talking about centimeters but the last rotation never came. I hope to make one soon and can’t wait for that day to come. It will be one for the books,” said the 31-year-old finance manager of the Marianas Alliance of Non-Government Organizations, Inc.

The closest Santos had gotten to driving an ace was about two to three years ago when his ball landed about 2 centimeters from the cup at Laolao’s hole No. 4.

Marco Peter, yet another national golfer, has had two aces in a golf career that spans close to two decades.

In a span of just three months, he made holes-in-one in the 12th and sixth hole of the Kagman golf course. But, similar to Atalig and Camacho, the 51-year-old former chair of the 2022 Pacific Mini Games Organizing Committee hasn’t made one when it really counted—during a tournament.

“You practice to be lucky is what I go by…the closest I’ve been during a tournament was mere inches during TOC [Tournament of Champions]. …[It is] customary when you make a hole-in-one [to] treat your group who witnessed it to enjoy drinks of their choice…

When he make his first hole-in-one, Peter said he was satisfied with his golf game.

Former national golfer and many-time super senior champion Nick Sablan has the most number of aces among the bunch, with five or six aces under his belt.

“I made five or six holes-in-one that I can remember. The big one was [at] the Tournament of Champions on hole No. 3 at Coral Ocean Point. Actually, what I have on record like on trophies are showing that they happened on Nov. 24, 1989, and Jan. 4, 2007. Another one on the same year in 1989 in either hole No. 7 or 14 and the last one was in either hole No. 2 or 3 at the walking course next to McDonald’s (Saipan Country Club).”

Sablan, who at 71 still humbles golfers half his age, said the ace during the TOC netted him $5,000, while the other he remembers allowed him to go on a vacation to the Philippines for free.

As for the round of drinks that usually follows after the historic shot, Sablan said, “Normally I just treat friends, but one time I had to buy a round for everyone at COP. Thank goodness it wasn’t that many people. …It wasn’t much…probably spent less than a hundred dollars.”

Zhi Min Jin still hasn’t gotten an ace yet, which is probably just right considering she can’t treat anyone to drinks just yet, much less imbibe herself as she’s only 16 years old.

The women’s gold medalist in the 2022 Mini Games in the CNMI said she almost made an ace several times but her balls almost always manage to land mere inches from the flag.

“Making a hole-in-one seems easy but it’s actually pretty difficult. The weather, pin placement, wind direction, and etc. changes every day. I believe that making a hole-in-one is like winning a lottery,” she said.

Unlike Jin, Zhi Yun “Venom” Li, who is another teenager and part of the CNMI golf team in the 2022 Mini Games, has already recorded an ace in his young career.

The 15-year-old Marianas High School student achieved the feat at COP in March 22, 2023, on hole No. 3.

He, however, didn’t had to spend hundreds of dollars for a round of drinks. “I just went to McDonald’s with my friends.”