By FRED KRONER
Reis Claybrooke didn’t have any difficulty in social distancing on Wednesday when he played golf at Lake of the Woods.
“I was playing by myself,” Claybrooke said.
He was tackling the par 3 course.
“I play there almost every day,” the 13-year-old said.
If practice makes perfect, then there’s a simple explanation for how the incoming Mahomet-Seymour Junior High eighth-grader fared on the 8th hole.
“I usually par that hole,” Claybrooke said.
Wednesday was an exception.
He knocked his first career hole-in-one, acing the 95-yard hole.
“I heard it hit the trees, and I thought it was in the rough,” Claybrooke said. “I was walking across the green to find my ball and realized it was in the hole.
“I ran straight inside to tell David (Sebestik, the club professional).”
He used a 48 degree wedge for his milestone shot.
“I always use my 48 degree wedge on that hole,” he said.
Since taking up golf in 2018, Claybrooke flirted with a hole-in-one on another occasion.
“I was pretty close on the Blue Course at the U of I, hole 13,” he said.
Claybrooke finished his round on Wednesday with a 1-under par score.
His debut in golf came about in a typical fashion.
“I used to play with a plastic set (of clubs) at my grandparents when I was smaller,” Claybrooke said.
He got more serious two years ago.
“My parents got me the Lake of the Woods Anniversary pass a couple Christmas’ ago, and ever since then, I’m at the course as much as I can be,” Claybrooke said. “I’ve taken lessons from David and I have gone to the Lake of the Woods golf camp the last couple summers.
“Last year, I started playing junior tournaments with my friend Luke, and we did pretty well.”
He is going to continue working on his game, but the ball that he used on Wednesday – Titleist ProV1X – is going into retirement.
“I’ve saved the ball,” he said.
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There were more milestone shots this week at Lake of the Woods than the one by Claybrooke.
On Wednesday, Marcus Albert had a double eagle (2 on a par-5 hole). He used a pitching wedge on the 6th hole.
On Thursday, Charlie Odle used a 9-iron to score a hole-in-one on the 140-yard 14th hole.
