Hole-in-One for Vegreville Golf Enthusiast

Hole-in-One for Vegreville Golf Enthusiast

Michelle Pinon News Advertiser

September 7, 2020.

It was a very special day for golf enthusiast Steve Kereliuk who shot a hole-in-one at the Vegreville Kinsmen Golf Course.

The 89-year-old golf aficionado’s stroke of luck came on the 6th hole on Labour Day Monday. “It was quite calm. Well, actually it was very, very cold because I was dressed quite heavy. I had to have two jackets on. But like I said, you know, even a blind chicken will find a kernel of grain sometimes. So, I was pretty lucky. It felt good anyway.

It was the first time my son had ever seen anyone hit a hole-in-one and it happened to be me. We had the golf course to ourselves. It was cold. No wind. No one wanted to get out there.” His daughter Crystal was also playing with the duo and got to share the special moment.

He joked while saying, “I can’t lie to you, it was a fluke. It was on hole number 6, and I have a 5 hybrid that I use, and I managed to hit it right off the tee and it went into the cup. It took one bounce and was rolling pretty fast, and it hit the flag dead on. So that’s pretty good.”

The distance from the tee to the cup was approximately 125 yards. “Not really far. I can’t hit the ball very far anymore. That’s why I said it was a fluke.”

He watched the ball go all the way down the fairway. “I couldn’t believe it. There it was. The ball was sitting in there. We walked up to it, and sure enough, it was in the hole. According to the records here, I don’t think there’s anyone my age who’s gotten a hole in one.

I’m 89-years-old. I’m going to be 90 on the 15th of October. Three years ago, July 14, I got my first hole in one on number 9. You know you wouldn’t believe it.

My favorite hole is number nine…The thing is, once you hit your ball off the tee or whatever, you never know what’s going to happen…I can’t say I knew exactly what I was doing.”

Despite the rainy weather this season, Steve has been able to golf 50 (ninehole rounds) this year. “That’s pretty good, even for this year.” He is hoping to get a few more rounds in with his usual golfing partner, his son Randy, before the season ends.

Steve said he played golf a couple of times before moving to Vegreville in 1960. He began playing golf fairly regular in the late sixties and said he would carve out some time to play when he could take a break from his drive-in restaurant business.

He was also fortunate to share many special memories golfing with his late wife Virginia whom he was married to for 65 years. The couple joined the Antique Road Show, a senior citizens group, whose members would travel and play at different golf courses in the east-central region of the province.

“Every Thursday we would go. We looked forward to it. You golfed with someone different every time you went out. It was nice. About twice a year Vegreville would host it. It didn’t matter what the weather was like, Thursday you went out there. If the weather was bad you dressed up for it and you played. It was so much fun. “