Hole-in-one contestants score prizes (but no ace)

Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Miles Adams (left) shoots for the pin while fellow contestants look on during the semifinal round of the 2021 Jeff Post Memorial Hole-in-One Contest Sunday afternoon on hole no. 1 at the Frank E. Peters Golf Course.
Photo by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter

Shaun Gray found the green — though not the million-dollar kind — to win the 2021 Jeff Post Memorial Hole-in-One Contest Sunday afternoon on the Frank E. Peters Golf Course.

Gray, the head coach of the Nevada High School boys basketball team, was one of three finalists, along with Todd Klingaman and Blake Hertzberg, who advanced past the semifinal round on the modified 153-year hole no. 1 for a shot at winning $1 million with an ace on the modified 165-yard hole no. 18. Gray and Klingaman were also finalists at the event in 2019.

“From 165, if you can get it to within 15 or 20 feet playing a round of golf, you’ll take that,” said Gray, who teed off first in the finals and landed his ball on the front of the green, then watched as Klingaman and Hertzberg came up just short of it — thus keeping the $1 million safe for at least another year. “Two years ago when I was in the finals, I got to choose if I wanted to go first, second, or third, and I chose to go last. Well, I learned that you’re better off going first and getting it out of the way. Because if you know what you have to beat, there’s a little more pressure. I think going first was to my advantage.”

Finalists Shaun Gray (right), Todd Klingaman (middle), and Blake Hertzberg pose next to the leaderboard before teeing off for the grand prize, $1 million for an ace.
Photo by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter

With the victory, Gray selected a set of Rotex Precision graphite wedges. Hertzberg was next closest, so he chose the Nexus laser rangefinder. Klingaman received a new 43-inch LG Smart TV.

Of course, each golfer, including the dozens who advanced to the semifinals by finishing in the top 10 at the qualifying round each day this past week on a 105-yard range next to Community National Bank, had his sights set on winning that million-dollar grand prize — perhaps none more so than Klingaman, who hit an ace on Saturday.

For the three finalists, they ultimately decided a few hundred thousand bucks would be enough.

Gray and his son Jackson take a victory lap around the green after his ball landed closest to the pin.
Photo by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter

“It’s a good idea, because the chances of doing it yourself are pretty slim. You might as well increase your odds,” said Gray, who made a verbal agreement with Hertzberg and Klingaman before teeing off that, if any golfer hit a hole-in-one, they would each split the grand prize. “It’s just a fun deal. You know, it’ll probably never happen, but it’s a fun thing every year. And it’s a good cause. All these people that support the Griffons are really good folks. It’s just a fun thing to do and support them.”

Hertzberg, who has reached the finals at a hole-in-one event before but never scored an ace, agreed with Gray that the chances were slim anyone would ever win the $1 million — especially with the gallery of Nevada Griffons board members, fellow contestants, family and friends, and even a police officer watching your every move from the clubhouse.

“It’s a little bit nerve-racking because what happens if you did actually make a hole-in-one and win a million dollars?” Hertzberg said. “I’ve never hit a hole-in-one. But I’ll keep trying.”

John Day (left) and Kevin Williams measure a ball hit close to the pin during the semifinal round of the 2021 Jeff Post Memorial Hole-in-One Contest Sunday afternoon at Frank E. Peters Golf Course.
Photo by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter

As for the conditions on Sunday, the air was humid, clouds covered the sky, and the grass on the no. 18 fairway (where a custom-distance tee box had been set up) was a little longer than some of the finalists would have liked. Many of the semifinalists went through every iron in their bag trying to calibrate the right distance.

“We were talking about which club to hit, what the wind was doing and stuff, but I just told himself, just hit the ball solid and see what happens,” said Gray, who had a supportive caddy for the finals in his young son Jackson, whose name he expects to grace the leaderboard someday — and maybe be the first winner of that elusive million dollars. “It is cool. He loves golf. Hopefully he ends up being a little better than I am.”

Todd Klingaman, who hit a hole-in-one during the qualifying round, tees off in the finals.
Photo by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter
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