Yocha-De-He Golf Club has first public hole in one

It’s every golfer’s dream, forever eluding the majority of those who participate in the sport – a hole in one. But that elusive, seemingly unobtainable dream came true for golfer Jason Edwards on Jan. 18 at Cache Creek Casino Resort’s newly opened Yocha-De-He Golf Club.

“It was pretty amazing,” said Edwards, who is the surveillance manager for the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians Tribal Gaming Agency, which actually oversees gaming operations at Cache Creek. “I didn’t believe it was in at first,” he said. “It kind of went a little bit right, and I got a break on the green, and it went right on in.
There was definitely a ‘wow factor’ to it.”

Edwards’ footing didn’t quite feel right on hole number 15, so he took off his golf shoes and put on his sneakers before proceeding to hole 16, where he scored the ace. The ball he hit wasn’t particularly special, just one he had found on the course.
So, with the wrong shoes on and a found ball, he stepped up to the tee with his 7 iron, which he proceeded to hit around 170 yards and into the hole. “It took a couple of small hops right onto the green and went on in. I was stunned,” he says.
Luckily, there were three other golfers with him to record the occasion. “I’ve been playing for 21 years and have never witnessed a hole in one,” said Ray Patterson, who was part of Edwards’ foursome that afternoon.

“Ray actually somersaulted his way up to the green,” joked Edwards. “He was the first one to verify that the ball was actually in the cup.”
According to the United States Golf Association, the estimated odds of acing a hole with any given swing are one in 33,000. That puts Edwards in quite an elite club. In addition to that honor, he’s the first golfer to hit a hole in one on the course since it opened to the public on Jan. 2. Another golfer had the honor of recording Yocha-De-he’s very first hole-in-one during a round before the course officially opened in December on hole number seven.

Remarkably, this was the first time Edwards had ever played Yocha-De-He, and in addition to praising the quality of the experience and the layout of the holes, he had a message for course designer Brad Bell: “Let Brad know that I tamed his course.”