A high school golfer from the Columbia County School District recently achieved a feat in-tournament considered to be incredibly rare, at the rate of 1 in 6,000,000 for the average golfer.
Greenbrier High School sophomore Jack Holley carded an albatross during a tournament at the Athens Country Club.
An albatross, or double eagle, is achieved when a player finishes a par five with only two shots and is more infrequently attained than a hole in one.
Coach Casey Heckathorn said that although achieving an albatross requires an element of luck, only a talented player is able to find themselves in the position to make it happen.
“It’s pretty rare…you have to be a good player to even put yourself in a position to have a feat like that,” said Heckathorn.
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An impressive feat
Holley said that the par-5 hole stretched 550 years. He hit a drive 320 yards followed by a 230 yard second shot into the hole.
Holley, who practices golfing nearly every day of the week, said he’s thankful for his coach and teammates who encourage him to aim high.
“I really appreciate the guys, they push me to be better every day. And I appreciate coach Heckathorn like, coming out here and putting his time into us,” said Holley.
Heckathorn expressed that he sees Holley achieving greatness in his athletic career.
“He has a really good future in the game. I think he has really high aspirations…maybe this attention catapults him even more, gets him even working harder than he already is, so, it’s a pretty cool thing,” he said.
