Brookridge golfer wins new golf cart with his second hole-in-one

By Derek J. LaRiviere, Times Correspondent
Saturday, January 1, 2011

BROOKRIDGE — A bucket list is a funny thing. It's usually loaded with items people wish they had gotten to earlier in life, so they devote their golden years toward achieving these goals.

One of the things on Leroy Weber's bucket list was a hole-in-one. And the 79-year-old has gotten to cross it off his list twice in just over two years.

Weber has had a lifelong passion for golf that has only grown in his later years. He learned how to play while he was in the Navy, but didn't really play regularly until 1985. Since then, he's gotten progressively better.

On Oct. 5, 2008, at Brookridge Country Club, Weber hit his first ace on a par 3 with a 3-wood. He was playing with his wife, Elva. They couldn't see the hole from the tee, but she believed it was in the hole when he hit it.

"(Elva) said it went in the hole," Weber said, "and I said it couldn't have. That was a real surprise."

He thought nothing in his golf career could top that. He played up to three times a week with friends on his home course at Brookridge.

And when the opportunity came to play in an inter-club invitational tournament between High Point and Brookridge, Weber was among the first to enter the 164-player field.

The connection between High Point and Brookridge has been strong in the past, but the recent tournaments are the first in years involving the two clubs. Harry Tremain, the tournament director, is happy to see the relationship between the nearby courses get back on track.

"We hope to continue this. We used to be considered sister clubs," Tremain said. "We used to do this a long time ago, but it's been 10 or 15 years."

Like most events, there were contests and prizes offered for closest-to-the-pin and hole-in-ones. Very rarely are the grand prizes given away, but that wouldn't be the case on Dec. 3 at High Point.

On the 12th hole, a 155-yard par 3, Weber again used a 3-wood and knocked it stiff. Playing with a group of six, the hole wasn't visible from the tee. Only the top of the flag could be seen. A handful of women were down by the green to act as spotters.

"One of the women came running up and started waving her hand," Weber said. "I thought she was saying I got it close to the pin, because that was also the closest-to-the-pin hole. I had no clue I made it. They were all very excited, and they were all very gracious."

He won a brand new $6,400 Polaris golf cart, courtesy of Affordable Golf Carts of Hudson.

The owner of a couple of carts already, Weber is getting the cart modified and will likely have to get his shed changed so he can fit the larger model inside.

Word of the second ace spread quickly across the course. Weber knows he'll remember this one more than the first one, for better or for worse. The tradition is that whoever hits the shot has to buy drinks for everyone in the clubhouse after the round.

"There's a disadvantage to hitting (a hole-in-one) on an outing like that," Weber said, "because it cost me over $300."

But he said it was money well spent.

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