Paralyzed Golfer Get's 2nd Hole In One In 2 Years

[matcom]

<snip>

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho --Wally Stanley has been paralyzed from the waist down since a drunken driver hit him while he was jogging in 1984. But that hasn't hurt his golf game.

The 61-year-old retired school administrator from the Spokane Valley aced the 140-yard fourth hole Wednesday at The Links golf course in Post Falls. It was his second hole-in-one in two years, with the first coming last year on a 125-yard shot at Painted Hills golf course in nearby Spokane, Wash.

His shot Wednesday was witnessed by Titan Morlan, a greenskeeper at the Post Falls links.

"It hit the approach and rolled on into the cup," Morlan told the Coeur d'Alene Press.

Stanley, who was golfing by himself, didn't see where the ball landed and assumed it fell short.

"I felt foolish looking in the cup -- that's usually the last place I'd look -- but there it is," said Stanley, as he took a break before starting the back nine. He scored a 42 after nine holes. "That was my best nine since I've been playing out of the chair."

Stanley rides a golf cart specially adapted for people with disabilities that is designed to avoid leaving track marks on the green. It has a swivel seat that allows him to pull up next to the ball, turn his body to address it and swing away -- one-handed.

His club has a special tip that allows him to place the tee in the ground and scoop up the ball to tee it up.

"I hit it straight, mainly because I don't hit it as far," he said.

Before the accident that paralyzed him, Stanley said he played golf for years and "never got close to a hole-in-one."

But he limited celebration of his second ace to a cell phone call to his wife from the fourth hole.

"I don't like to make a big deal out of it," Stanley said. "My next shot's probably a topper."

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2005/08/25/paralyzed_golfer_has_second_ace_in_2_years?mode=PF

[GOPisEvil]

1. 42 on 9 holes?

Damn...I'm nowhere near paralyzed, and 42 is good for me, too. x(