Some golfers play a lifetime without ever getting a hole-in-one, but 11-year-old Ethan Clay of Duluth already has an ace in the hole he can brag about the rest of his life.
Ethan Clay, a fifth-grader at Congdon Park Elementary School, shows the ball he hit for a hole-in-one.
Some golfers play a lifetime without ever getting a hole-in-one, but 11-year-old Ethan Clay of Duluth already has an ace in the hole he can brag about the rest of his life.
Ethan aced the 115-yard Hole No. 8 on Lester Park's Lake Nine on Saturday afternoon using a nine-iron. Playing in a five-some that included his father, Tim Clay, Lester Park golf pro Paul Schintz and his children, Maddy and Michael, Ethan Clay saw the ball bounce before the cup and then disappear. His jog toward the hole quickly became an all-out sprint.
"I had to go look in the hole because I was worried that maybe it had gone over the green," Ethan said. "It was amazing. I didn't think I'd ever be able to do that."
Ethan, a fifth-grader at Congdon Park Elementary School, plays golf three or four times a week in the summer and usually gets a bogey or par on most holes. He said he plays just about everything, but golf and football are his favorite sports.
Saturday was Ethan's first time out this year and first time playing the Lake Nine. It was also the first ace of the year at Lester Park. To celebrate, Schintz treated Ethan to dinner.
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There was talk about who might be the youngest golfer ever to ace a hole at the course, which was built in 1934, but in the Clay family, there's no doubt.
"My grandpa has only had one, and he's 70," Ethan said.
Jon Nowacki joined the News Tribune in August 1998 as a sports reporter. He grew up in Stephen, Minnesota, in the northwest corner of the state, where he was actively involved in school and sports and was a proud member of the Tigers’ 1992 state championship nine-man football team.
After graduating in 1993, Nowacki majored in print journalism at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, serving as editor of the college paper, “The Aquin,” and graduating with honors in December 1997. He worked with the Associated Press during the “tobacco trial” of 1998, leading to the industry’s historic $206 billion settlement, before moving to Duluth.
Nowacki started as a prep reporter for the News Tribune before moving onto the college ranks, with an emphasis on Minnesota Duluth football, including coverage of the Bulldogs’ NCAA Division II championships in 2008 and 2010.
Nowacki continues to focus on college sports while filling in as a backup on preps, especially at tournament time. He covers the Duluth Huskies baseball team and auto racing in the summer. When time allows, he also writes an offbeat and lighthearted food column entitled “The Taco Stand,” a reference to the “Taco Jon” nickname given to him by his older brother when he was a teenager that stuck with him through college. He has a teenage daughter, Emma.
Nowacki can be reached at jnowacki@duluthnews.com or (218) 380-7027. Follow him on Twitter @TacoJon1.
