Butler makes hole in one

My son teed off followed by the other player. As they were putting up their clubs, Butler teed off and as many golfers do, picked up his tee and headed to the cart while the ball was still in the air. I, having nothing more to do than watch the ball, watched it in flight. It hit the green and scooted, rather quickly up the green toward the hole. The pin was in a shadow at the back of the green and I lost the ball as it entered said shadow. When Butler passed the cart I was sitting in, I said, “Just put it in the hole.” I realized he hadn’t seen what I just saw, or he didn’t hear me because he just nodded and said “thank you,” as golfers often respond in that manner when they don’t understand what you just said. Many golfers say something complimentary and “thank you” is a safe response.
I arrived at the green before any of the players because the other two were short of the green and Butler was the last to leave. As I approached the green, I looked for his golf ball. It was nowhere to be seen. I thought it must have run through the green and over the drop off. It was, however, running pretty quickly. As I walked toward the drop off, I thought I might as well look in the hole. I didn’t have to continue toward the drop off because at the bottom of the flag stick, nestled snugly at the bottom of the hole, was Butler’s golf ball: a hole-in-one. I hadn’t lost it in the shadow. I lost it because it had disappeared in the hole. I said nothing and hoped that I hadn’t shown a reaction. I kept walking toward the drop off, still hoping that I hadn’t given away the surprise.
As I stood at the very back of the green, above the drop off, Butler approached asking, “Where is my ball?” The other players were in front of the green and shrugged their shoulders. I pulled out my cell phone and acted as if I were making a phone call, all the while taking a video of Butler to catch a genuine reaction upon his discovering that he had just made a hole in one. Again and again he asked the whereabouts of his ball. I just looked around and shrugged my shoulders trying to keep the camera on him. I was successful.
Not being able to find his golf ball, Butler looked in the hole and experienced what most of us never will, the realization that he just made an eagle, an ace, a hole in one. I was most amazed at his reaction. After a hoot and a holler, he asked, “What club did I use?” Obviously preparing for his next visit to this particular hole.
As I sat down to write this account, I realized something else about Butler. I added up his score and realized he shot a score that was lower than his age. Having been involved in the game of golf for many years, I know this is an accomplishment many people try to achieve. You might be asking why this stood out to me. It stood out to me because Mr. Butler never mentioned his low score. In fact, he did not mention his hole-in-one the rest of the day. I guess I was so impressed because with some of today’s “hot heads” in the professional golfers association (PGA), Butler showed integrity and gave me hope that golf is still a gentleman’s game.
As a side note: This was the first time I’ve ever seen a hole-in-one in person. I also found out that this was Butler’s second. I wonder what his reaction was the first time. I would be willing to bet it was the same humble reaction I saw today.