Accurate Albrecht accumulates aces Veazie golfer has recorded 10 holes-in-one in last nine years

loading...

Bill Albrecht of Veazie admits that his friends have started calling him “Ace.”

“They’re joking around,” he said, but they have a reason.

On May 14, the 62-year-old transport driver for Jackson Labs in Bar Harbor carded his 10th hole-in-one by using a 4-wood on the 190-yard, par-3 sixth hole at Hampden Country Club.

When last we checked in with Albrecht, in 2001, he had just recorded his second career hole-in-one and was 9 inches from getting another one the same day in the Budweiser tournament at Hermon Meadow Golf Club.

That would be a lifetime’s worth of aces for most people, but Albrecht was just getting warmed up.

He has collected eight more since then.

His first one was July 26, 1997, at Hermon Meadow. He has also had aces at Hidden Meadows Golf Course in Old Town, Bangor Municipal Golf Course, and River Oaks Golf Course in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

“That one was just a lark,” he said of the Myrtle Beach ace. The club was running a contest, at $5 a try, where a player could win a sleeve of balls for hitting a tee shot on the green.

“It went in the hole,” he said. Not only did he get the sleeve of balls, “I won $1,000 with that.”

And at least three of his aces have come during tournaments.

The key to his success?

“It’s 500 percent luck,” said Albrecht quickly, echoing his assessment of five years ago.

He did say there might be another reason.

“For me, the strongest part of my game is driving,” he said. “I can hit my tee shot pretty straight. I usually use a 4-wood or 7-wood off the tee on the par 3s. That helps quite a bit.”

In a March 2000 article for Golf Digest magazine, Dr. Francis Scheid, retired chairman of the Boston University mathematics department, calculated the odds of getting a hole-in-one during any given round as approximately 5,000 to 1. The National Hole-In-One Association has reported the odds to be about 12,700 to 1 for the average golfer and about 3,700 to 1 for touring pros.

Brian Enman, head pro at Bangor Muni, has never met anyone who has made as many aces as Albrecht.

“Probably three or four at the most,” said Enman, who has one of his own from 1970.

“Most people would be happy to get one in a lifetime,” said Enman. “If we get one, we oughta feel happy.”

Albrecht still has a ways to go to match Mancil Davis, “The King of Aces,” who reportedly is the world record holder with 50 aces.

Albrecht might have made more than 10 by now if he played more often.

“I’m like an 18 handicap,” he said. “I play one day a week.”

And that’s enough for him.

“Oh yeah,” he said. He doesn’t get home from work in time to get a round in during the week, and Saturdays he spends with his wife, Betty.

She plays, too, said Albrecht, but only a couple of times a year. He had to make a deal to get her out, though.

“If she learned to play golf, then I had to learn to ski,” he said, chuckling. She did and he did.

“It’s worked out good,” he added. Betty has been among the witnesses for a couple of his aces and she has seen him “clean the mountain a couple of times.”

Albrecht learned to play golf when he was in the Air Force in the Philippines in about 1970. The Missouri native had just had surgery for varicose veins on one of his legs. Doctors told him walking would be good for him, so he took up golf.

He played about six days a week then and had a 5 handicap, but his handicap has creeped back up since he has been playing once a week.

But he’s happy. He doesn’t have a regular group that he plays with. He just shows up at a golf course and plays with whoever might be available.

“I just have fun and make new friends,” said Albrecht.

And aces.

Paul Bunyan update

The Whited Ford Paul Bunyan Amateur Golf Tournament is close to full, according to tournament director Skip Chappelle.

“We had 317 registered and I have about 15 more [to add in],” said Chappelle on Monday.

The limit this year is 360.

The tournament raised the entry fee to $99 this year but added Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono in place of Bangor Muni.

Registration forms are available at www.bunyangolf.com or by calling 941-9549.

Dave Barber can be reached at 990-8170, 1-800-310-8600, or by e-mail at dbarber@bangordailynews.net.