Rando is just ace

By Gavin Staindl
HE has never hit a hole in one before, but on Saturday Steve Rando became the Pakenham Golf Club’s first golfer to hit an ace in 2011.
Situated out back at the par three, 147-metre 14th, the Narre Warren resident said he had timed his nine iron so well that he thought it would fly the green.
But fortunately for Rando, 53, his well-timed shot skipped once before hitting the flagpole and dropping in for the first hole in one struck at Pakenham this year.
“I didn’t see it go in,” Rando said. “Someone next to me shouted ‘it went in’… I didn’t believe him until I saw it.
“There was a bit of jumping around and shaking heads … (it) was quite exciting,” Rando said.
Rando, who admitted the ace was the only good thing to come out of his round, becomes the first golfer since Matt Yusoff in 2009 to ace the hole that two weeks ago was under water.
As a prize, Rando will receive a mounted plaque of his golden ball and his name will be inscribed on the honour board alongside 22 other golfers who have nailed the hole in one since records were first kept in 1985.