For anyone fortunate enough to have played Pebble Beach Golf Links, the par-4 fourth hole makes a great first impression.
After all, part of what makes Pebble Beach such a fixture among the best golf courses in the world is its proximity to the Pacific Ocean. And No. 4 is the first hole on the course that’s set directly along the coastline, with great views of Stillwater Cove and beyond.
It’s memorable for Denver resident Connie Gallagher for that reason, but also for a couple of others following her recent trip to the resort.
One of those other reasons was that she was in Pebble Beach to attend an Oct. 11 wedding, which just happened to be held on the old fifth tee at Pebble Beach, not far from the fourth green.
But the thing that really makes No. 4 special is what Gallagher did there during her round at Pebble Beach on Oct. 9. Playing the iconic course for the first time, the CWGA member made some history at the fourth hole by becoming — to the best knowledge of club officials — the first female ever to make a hole-in-one on a par-4 at Pebble Beach, which opened in 1919.
Gallagher, a member at Denver Country Club, aced her first test with flying colors by holing out her 253-yard tee shot with a driver on the uphill par-4.
“It was embarrassing,” Gallagher said in a recent phone interview. “It was the first time I had ever played Pebble Beach and I was not paying attention (to club selection). I was just looking at the view. Looking back, I wouldn’t have taken out driver. It was just kind of a fluke.”
And neither Gallagher, nor her playing partners (husband Mike and Clif Louis, also of Denver, and Adam Kantor of Carmel, Calif.), saw where Connie’s tee shot ended up. After driving up to the green, Connie and Mike looked in the bunker before Mike suggested glancing in the cup. And, sure enough, there the ball was.
“You don’t want to know what came out of me,” Connie Gallagher said with a laugh.
After Mike took a picture of the ball in the hole, Connie of course had to buy drinks for not only each person in her group, but for the other foursome they were with, including the bride-to-be, Molly Louis — both during the round and afterward. Suffice it to say, “the round ended up being more expensive than we thought,” Connie said.
The hole-in-one was the third by Connie Gallagher, who currently sports a 9.9 USGA handicap index. But the previous two were more conventional, one coming about 30 years ago at Denver City Park and the second at Denver Country Club a couple of years back.
This one, on a par-4 and at Pebble Beach, fits into a different category.
“It’s kind of surreal,” the 57-year-old said. “I can’t drive it 250 at sea level. It had to roll up there.”
The Pebble Beach staff quickly caught wind of Gallagher’s feat. One of the assistant professionals came out to congratulate her, and told her to come into the golf shop after the round to commemorate the ace. That included accepting a flag signed by Pebble Beach head professional Chuck Dunbar. (Connie is pictured above with that flag, flanked by Mike, right, and Clif Louis, left.)
In a subsequent email exchange, Dunbar noted that he and Pebble Beach course historian Neal Hotelling believe Gallagher is the first female to ace a par-4 at the course.
“As far as we know, it’s the first HIO made by a woman on all holes except the par-3s,” Dunbar said in an email to COgolf.org.
And both Dunbar and Hotelling are very familiar with Pebble Beach golf history. Dunbar joined Pebble Beach Resorts in 1995 and instituted hole-in-one record-keeping for Pebble Beach, Spyglass, Spanish Bay and Del Monte. Hotelling has authored three books about Pebble Beach golf.
“It was fun that it happened on this occasion,” said Gallagher, who also played Spyglass and Spanish Bay during the trip. But her best score, an 83, came on the unforgettable round at Pebble Beach.
“It helps when you put it in in one on a par-4,” she said with a laugh.
