For the past six years, Stephen Harrison has played in the Laurence Woodmere Academy Golf Outing. Due to his longstanding attendance at the event, when the tournament came around this past May, he didn’t think much of it. Harrison has been golfing weekly for the past 14 years, but he does not consider himself a pro by any means. In fact, Harrison had been taking lessons to fine tune his game prior to the tournament.
As the foursome approached the hole, they all took in the difficulty of #16. The green was, in fact, placed on an island. When Harrison lined up his shot and took his swing, he never expected the ball to take off like a rocket. He even says he turned around, not even waiting to see where the ball landed, because he thought the shot was so awful.
“Zero skill on this one, 100% Luck”, said Harrison. He went on to discuss that on most holes, “hit thin to win” is the best motto, but on this hole, hitting thin was the worst thing to do. However, even after hitting the ball at a low trajectory, and much too hard to land on the island, a small retaining wall was his savior. The ball hit the retaining wall and then bounced onto the island a single time before landing easily into the hole. Harrison only caught the very end of his shot and thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
“Did that go in?!”, he shouted. The only answer he got were the screams from the spotters. Following the official ‘yes’, everyone went wild. Harrison and his foursome were so overcome with excitement that they all jumped into the water surrounding the island! More people even followed them in as they acted like fools filled with joy. Harrison summarized that beautiful May day as “unforgettable”, and truly feels his experience was once in a lifetime.
Although Harrison may feel like a celebrity in his own mind, he says Garden City Mazda really treated him like one. In fact, the big check given to him is now framed in his office along with the ball itself. Even his golf instructor was ecstatic for Harrison – although they both agreed it’s definitely not time to give up golf lessons quite yet!
We say, do whatever it takes! Great job Stephen and congratulations to you and the entire team at Garden City Mazda!
