Golf can be a wonderful and maddening game. Some can’t get enough of it. Others steer clear of the links. I always liked George Carlin’s idea. After you hit the ball, find it, then “Put it in you’re pocket and go home, you’re a winner! You’ve found it!”
Many enjoy the stress of the game. They must. They keep playing it. Every once in awhile we see why. That big reward happens after all those visits to the sand and the drink. This Halloween week, the ultimate golfing treat became a reality for Kurt Bruce in Alaska. Bruce swung his 7-iron one time and the ball found the bottom of the cup more than a football field and a half away. Bruce connected on a hole-in-one.
Bruce’s wife Heather is the sister of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. The Palin family has the utmost appreciation for athletic success. Palin was a state champion basketball player, while her husband Todd has captured several Iron Dog snow machine racing crowns. Sarah Palin grew up around hunting, fishing, and football. While golf may not be as rough and tough as those other sports, the amazing shot did not go unnoticed.
Palin posted on Facebook:
Ok, America, before I tell you what I REALLY feel about today’s Obamacare Debacle Developments, let me share some GOOD news with you! Don’t you just love it when good things happen to good people?! Epic day in our family’s little world! My brother-in-law, golf aficionado Kurt Bruce, proud owner of Bruce’s Muldoon Chevron (Alaska’s finest gas station!) chalked one off his bucket list. He hit a hole-in-one! Hole 16 at the Anchorage Golf Course, 170 yards, 7 iron. Kurt was playing with two other people and asked them, “Did that possibly go in?!” When they approached the green to check they didn’t see the ball, so Kurt said, “I’m gonna check the cup,” not knowing for sure if it had gone long or was in the cup. It was in the cup! He yelled, “YES!” The Asian gals he golfed with gave high fives all around. They announced to Kurt that hole-in-one means “10 years of good luck for all of us!” Yeah, Kurt! So happy for you! On to Augusta!
In 2008 at the Republican National Convention, Palin, as the vice presidential nominee, mentioned the Bruces in her home run of a speech.
“My sister Heather and her husband, they just built a service station that’s now opened for business – like millions of others who run small businesses,” Palin said in Minnesota. “How are they going to be better off if taxes go up?”
As Palin put it, more on politics later. For now, it is all about the good news. Kurt Bruce did what many golfers never do. One perfect swing that can never be taken away.