Steve Marks hit two holes in one about 20 minutes apart Sunday at Idlewild Country Club. (Provided photo)
Feature, Sports

Homewood resident with two holes-in-one in single round

Steve Marks needed 61 years of golf to notch his first hole-in-one. The Homewood resident needed about 20 more minutes to get his second Sunday at Idlewild Country Club in Flossmoor.

Marks, a 68-year-old in the jewelry business, has played 37 rounds just this year at Idlewild. The number since he first hit the links as a seven year old has to be approaching a thousand. This is one he’ll likely remember forever.

Steve Marks hit two holes in one about 20 minutes apart Sunday at Idlewild Country Club. (Provided photo)
Steve Marks hit two holes in one about 20 minutes apart Sunday at Idlewild Country Club. (Provided photo)

“When you’ve been playing as long as I have without (a hole-in-one), you don’t necessarily try but you always hope,” Marks said. “The first time I wasn’t thinking about it. The second time I certainly wasn’t thinking about it.” 

The first came on the ninth hole, 137 yards into the wind. That’s usually two-club territory for Marks. He used a five iron.

“It was one of those where you knew it was a good shot, but knowing it was a good shot and going into the hole are two different things,” he said. “It was right on line, hit the green and kicked a little bit then rolled about 20 feet and disappeared.” 

The ninth hole at Idlewild is near the driving range. The commotion from the previous eagle drew a crowd from there. The next group waited while pictures were taken and celebrations were held.

Marks played the 10th and 11th holes before stepping to the tee at the 12th with his hybrid club, which he hadn’t been hitting well all year. This one was 159 yards into a similar wind.

“It was just straight, dead at the pin. I didn’t think anything of it. I didn’t think it was going to hit the green,” Marks said.

It did hit the green, bounced into the air and fell directly in the cup. Considering Marks already had one hole-in-one during his round, the odds of that one landing where it did were one in 67 million, according to the National Hole-in-One Registry.

“We screamed and the people ahead of us thought somebody had a heart attack or something,” Marks said. “After that, I don’t even know how I swung the club.” 

Marks’ wife Shelly tallied her first hole-in-one in May, so he felt like he had some catching up to do. He said he took a lot of gruff the last few months. Now, he has family bragging rights. 

“I was so excited to have my first one in 61 years of playing golf, quite honestly I just went up to the tee after that, put the tee in the ground, selected the club and hit the ball,” Marks said. “The good news is I watched the ball go in. But I was still shaking (from the first).” 

The Idlewild course was in pristine condition, by Marks’ assessment, and that made the difference. His golf balls rolled true. 

He kept both Titleists and plans to show them off. Hole-in-one display kits are sold but Marks has had some trouble finding any to feature more than one ball. He may need to have it custom made.

Marks bought a few rounds of drinks for friends in the clubhouse later that day. His phone was still buzzing Monday afternoon with friends congratulating him.

“It’s a great story. It still hasn’t sunk in. I’m walking on cloud nine,” he said.

News by email

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
Name

Free weekly newsletter

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
Name
Most read stories this week