Bradwell Institute golf coach Ken Griffin hit a hole-in-one Friday and went home in style, winning a free three-year lease on a Lexus IS250 during the third annual Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security Golf Tournament sponsored by Chatham Parkway Lexus at Taylor’s Creek Golf Course on Fort Stewart.
Griffin said he had a tough time on holes nine and 10 and pulled out his trusty 5-wood when they arrived at hole 11. As he sized up the hole, he said he recalled playing golf with his son a few years ago and using the 5-wood when he hit a hole-in-one then, much to the surprise of his son who questioned his choice of club.
Looking over the field, Griffin said he had only two things in mind: One was place the ball on the green, the other was not to play way off.
“I hit the ball and it soared,” he said. “It took off and went up in the air and then it started fading to the right … All of a sudden a gust of wind must have come through
because it threw the ball down. It hit the green and rolled about four times, and the guys I was playing with said, ‘It went in.’ I thought, ‘Holy …,’ and I screamed.”
Griffin said he expected to pick up the car on Saturday.
“I’m really excited,” he said.
The tournament drew more than 120 golfers and raised funds for the Homes For Our Troops Program, according to tournament organizer Alvin Thompson.
The program raises funds to build homes for wounded and disabled soldiers.
Thompson said the program recently built a home in Hinesville for Sgt. Jason Letterman. Letterman lost both his legs, suffered traumatic brain injuries and fractured his shoulder and pelvis during an IED explosion in Farasiyah, Iraq, in May 2008.