It’s taken 50 years, but 87-year-old Tommy Power has finally recorded a hole-in-one at Balbriggan Golf Club, Co Dublin.
Power, a 26-handicapper, who lives in Whitehall, in the north of Dublin, became the oldest recipient of a limited-edition BOSS watch, courtesy of the BOSS Watches H1 Club, after scoring a hole-in-one with his driver on the 120-yard, par-three 10th hole during a recent Stableford competition at the club he joined just over 50 years ago.
Yet it’s not the highlight of his golfing career, as the former driver explained.
He said: “That was my first hole-in-one. I always wanted to have a hole-in-one and to win the captain’s prize, but I never won the captain’s prize – though I did win the president’s prize. The highlight, however, was when I won the monthly medal in August with a net 65, off the back tees. They reckoned I was the oldest man in the country to win a medal.
“It was once of those days when everything went right for me. I went bananas!” he laughed.
The sprightly octogenarian still plays twice a week and puts his longevity down to … Balbriggan Golf Club.
He added: “I went in to the hospital a couple of weeks ago for a check-up and they gave me 10 out of 10 for everything and asked me ‘what’s the secret?’. My answer was Balbriggan Golf Club. I love it and I still play on Thursdays and Saturdays, out in the morning at 8.30am – the only thing now is that I use a buggy.”
Power plays a lot of golf in Kent, where his daughter now lives, but he cites Gleneagles as the best course he has ever played, as his father-in-law had a house in Scotland, and he played plenty of times in the Home of Golf.
Like more than 2,200 other dead-eye club golfers in 2013, Power’s achievement was recognised with membership of the exclusive BOSS Watches H1 Club and a specially-commissioned, commemorative timepiece.
The luxury German brand has pledged to reward club golfers with an exclusive watch for every hole-in-one recorded during a club competition this year. And, with nearly 4,000 holes-in-one recorded annually, BOSS Watches could feasibly be giving away £1m-worth in 2013.
The scheme is open to any golfer whose club uses HowDidiDo – a free-to-use, web-based social network for golfers – and anybody playing in official club competitions will be eligible. Currently, more than 1,800 clubs use the website.
Stephen Brydon, commercial director for MGS Distribution, the official licenced UK distributor for BOSS Watches, said: “Congratulations to Tommy on what, to most of us, is a once-in-a-lifetime achievement. And to achieve it at the age of 87 is astonishing. I wish we could bottle whatever it is that keeps Tommy going!
“To the majority of amateur golfers, recording a hole-in-one will be the most memorable thing they achieve in golf – yet all many have to show for it is a dent in their bank balance after buying a round of drinks in the clubhouse.
“We aim to make it a lot more memorable for them by presenting them with an exclusive BOSS watch, only available to golfers who record a hole-in-one, so they are truly exclusive and will provide a constant reminder of the sight of their ball popping into the hole and the emotions attached to that very moment.
“It also adds a frisson of extra excitement to club competitions for golfers who may not be in with a chance of winning the event, for they know that every time they stand on the tee on a par-three, they are just one shot away from winning a stunning timepiece.”
In addition to the limited-edition watch, Power is also awarded membership of the exclusive BOSS Watches H1 Club which offers its members access to exclusive benefits and merchandise.
No extra registration is required to participate in the BOSS Watches promotion as all official club competitions are recorded on the HowDidiDo system, so holes-in-one will be noted and automatically ratified by the golfer’s club.
HowDidiDo www.howdidido.co.uk