The odds are staggeringly enormous, but John McCutcheon defied them in late June at the Derrick

“I tried to buy a lottery ticket on my way home from the course, but the machine was down,” said McCutcheon.

The odds against winning the Lotto 6/49 are 1 in 13,983,816.

The odds against hitting two holes-in-one round are 10 times that — about 1 in 144 million, according to Jim Murphy ofVegasInsder.com.

“It was kind of surreal — you don’t got looking for that situation — so there wasn’t pandemonium or anything like that,” said McCutcheon, 65, a 10-handicap golfer, who had one previous ace, at Wolf Creek in 2002.

“One member of our group ‘Captain’ James Busby emailed my wife, Bernadine, after the second ace and she came out to the course with five of our friends to watch me play the 18th hole.

“That’s when I just about it lost it. That’s when it was special.”

Starting on the back nine, McCutcheon’s first ace of the day came on No. 16 from 109 yards with a 52-degree wedge.

“The ball hit in front of the hole and then seemed to have stopped on the edge,” he said. “I bent down to pick up my tee, and when I looked up, it had fallen into the hole.”

The second hole-in-one — on No. 2 from 145 yards with an 8-iron — hit the green about three-and-a-half feet in front of the hole and rolled in.

For the record, McCutcheon shot a tidy 73.

SCENE

Two weeks ago, I wrote a two-part series on how to hit the ball farther and immediately received an email from Fort Saskatchewan’s Kevin Blenkhorn, who recently won the World Long Drive Masters division (45 and up) at Mesquite, Nev., with a 419-yard poke.

Blenkhorn, 47, offered his own take.

“There is way more to it than just swinging harder,” said Blenkhorn, 47, who was also runner-up in last year’s Volvick Open division, also at Mesquite.

“Club and ball speed are all important to hitting it long, but backspin is by far the most important factor. You can swing 150 miles an hour, but if your spin rate is 4,500 revolutions per minute, you won’t get the distance you would if your club head speed was lower and your spin rate was around 2,000.

“If you have too much backspin, the ball just rises and you won’t get very much roll. And hitting into the wind just kills it,” said the six-foot-five, 235-pounder they call the “Ice Man.’

Quite simply, Blenkhorn says if your impact at the ball is on the downswing instead of the upswing you are putting too much spin on the ball.

“I try to hit the ball just above the centre line, which is the best spot to control spin — 1,800 r.p.m. of backspin is about perfect for maximum carry and roll out. The best way to control spin is an inside-out swing and hitting the ball on the upswing. As we say in the Long Drive world, speed comes from the inside and up.

“And to reiterate one of the other pros you talked to getting fit for the right shaft is also key.”

• Two McLennan Ross Junior Golf Tour events to report on: At Innisfail Chase Bodoano, 18, birdied the first playoff hole to edge Broadmoor clubmate Mitch Desjarlais after both tied with 78s in the wind and the rain. And Forestburg’s Jace Shannon, only 14, won at Barrhead with a 78 — one better than Desjarlais, 17, who again had to settle for second.
• The Quarry’s Keith Whitecotton came from behind to take the PGA of Alberta’s Golf Supply House two-day event at Wolf Creek with rounds of 65-68 to nip Medicine Hat’s Dillon Batsel by one shot after Batsel had opened with a 62, one shot off the course record.
• Calgary’s Annabelle Ackroyd won the Alberta Junior at Sundre’s Coyote Creek, shooting 3-under for the three days. The Derrick’s Kaitlyn Wingnean finished third — qualifying for Canadian Junior — while another Derrick player, Jenna Bruggeman, tied for fifth.

NOTED

While they naturally pale next to McCutcheon’s theatrics, here are some more holes-in-one:

• Darren Syvenky aced No. 5 at Tofield with a great 3-wood from 199 yards.
• Joe Mayowski at Drayton Valley on Hole 13 — a 7-iron from 170 yards.
• At the Edmonton Country Club, guest Chris Buffi aced the downhill 11th hole from 175 yards with an 8-iron.
• Country Club member Cynthia MacDonald went to Victoria’s Cordova Bay for her hole-in-one: 113 yards with a 6-hybrid.
• At Highlands, Mike Bell aced No. 16 from 135 yards with a 9-iron.
• Two aces at the Edmonton Petroleum Club: Stephen Lines on No. 8 from 176 yards with a 7-iron and Connor Grimes on No. 13 with a PW from 124 yards.

Read the article from the Edmonton Sun here.