Even P G Wodehouse, a master of prose who excelled in golf stories, couldn’t have conjured up such a perfect shot for his characters.
However, an Ahmedabad-based resident drove a golf ball to a “T” and pocketed a prized possession—the keys of a brand new SLK Mercedes Benz convertible—on Saturday.
Parthiv Mehta called it sheer luck as he sunk a hole-in-one, one of the rarest shots in golf. His lucky turf was the Kensville Golf and Country Club, 40 km from Ahmedabad. This was the third annual Mercedes Golf Tournament and the special prize was waiting to be won for three years. And the chances of a hole-in-one were one in 40,000.
“It was an unexpected achievement. And when I realised I had achieved the target, it was unbelievable,’’ said an ecstatic Mehta. The Ahmedabad-based businessman, who is into plastic manufacturing, has been an amateur golfer for long.
On Saturday, “when I teed off, I was just relaxing. Though I knew that there was a special prize to be won, I was focusing on the tournament; and not specifically on the hole-in-one. But it really took me by surprise when I got it,’’ he recounted. About 90 amateur golfers participated in the regional round of the tournament. Like the players, even the tournament organisers were surprised by the achievement.
“We are proud that it has happened at the only 18-hole golf course in the state,’’ remarked Jaxay Shah, owner of the Kensville Golf and Country Club.
Mehta falls in the category of six handicap. He has been practising at a city-based club and once in a while at the Kensville golf course. Speaking about the Rs 85-lakh luxury prize, he said: “I will rarely use this car and rather keep it as a prized possession. The convertible is a difficult proposition to be used on city roads.”Mehta said this achievement would encourage him to put, or ‘putt’, in more practice.
“We are part of an amateur circuit. We have been participating in tournaments. But Saturday’s was a memorable one.”
The Kensville golf course, set in 750 acres, “is the only one of its kind in Gujarat,’’ said Jaxay Shah. He said more tournaments would be organised for amateur golfers.