For the second competition in a row, a hole-in-one highlighted the Grand Valley State University men’s golf team’s tournament efforts.

Three weeks ago at the Great Lakes Region Invitational No. 1, junior Travis Shooks hit what is believed to be the first hole-in-one in tournament play in Laker history. He finished the day’s opening round atop the leaderboard with a score of 66, tying a school record along the way.

“I was surprised and shocked when it happened,” Shooks said. “You never expect to hit a hole in one.”

While waiting to tee off directly behind Shooks once he landed the ace that day, sophomore Chase Olsen must have taken good mental notes. During round one of last week’s GLIAC Championship, Olsen struck an ace to highlight opening day of the tournament.

“It was pretty exciting,” Olsen said. “I wasn’t playing very well at the time, so it gave me a boost in spirit. I haven’t had a hole-in-one in four years. After Shooks got one, I was hoping I would get one, too.”

According to the National Hole-in-One Registry, hole-in-ones only occur once every 3,500 rounds on average.

At first, Shooks had a hard time believing his teammate had followed up his historical shot with one of his own. Friendly banter ensued.

“He told me a couple holes after when walking by him,” Shooks said. “I was making fun of him that he can’t shoot very high, that it was a fluke and that he wasn’t playing that well. It was pretty funny.”

Though it was not Olsen’s first career hole-in-one, only his tournament ace counts in the official record books.

“He’s done it before,” Shooks said. “It’s just about hitting a good shot and getting a little bit lucky for it to go in.”

Olsen’s shot capped off an opening round that saw GVSU atop the GLIAC Championship standings, but day two proved to be far less successful for the Lakers. The team fell two spots to tie Findlay at third place overall. Shooks, who finished day one tied for third on the team with freshman teammate Chris Cunningham, ended the tournament in sixth.

“I was surprised how we let it get away from us,” Shook said. “We were leading after the first round, but then the next nine, we kinda fell apart and lost it. We fell off a little bit and couldn’t come back. We were playing good after the first round. We just couldn’t do it on the last part.”

Olsen, who last year became the first ever Laker to garner GLIAC Freshman of the Year honors, finished day one in 32nd place before ending in 36th place after three rounds. He said it was difficult not being able to help out the team’s overall finish more than he did.

“Golf’s a funny game,” he said. “Just because you get off to a lead and play good one round, it doesn’t mean you’re going to play good the next round. I personally feel like, because I didn’t play well, it had a big impact on our team. The fact that I didn’t really contribute to our team was a definite hit to our team.”

Olsen added that he expects the tournament loss, which snapped a two-year run for the Lakers as GLIAC Champions, to fuel the team for its next competitions.

The team is now on break until the spring season begins.

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