67 million-to-1 odds: Mason resident Larry Ried hits two holes-in-one in one round

Phil Friend | Lansing State Journal

MASON — Larry Ried surmises that he's been a golfer for somewhere between 50 and 60 years.

And at 71 years old, Ried plays five days a week — mostly all at Eldorado Golf Course in Mason — and is more than comfortable in his life as a retiree who gets to spend his mornings on the course.

Despite all that golf, Ried had never tallied a hole-in-one in his life.

Until Tuesday.

Ried finally accomplished the goal of all golfers, holing the par-3, 131-yard fourth hole at Eldorado in one shot.

And then, 15 minutes later, Ried did it again.

This time, it was hole No. 6, and the distance was six yards further, 137 yards to the hole.

Bam.

"Oh man, it's like you died and gone to heaven," Ried said. "You can't believe the elation you have. Play all these years, and you think you're never going to get one, and then 15 minutes later, you do it again."

According to the National Hole-In-One Registry, the odds of one player making two holes-in-one in the same round are 67 million-to-1.

That's not quite the odds of winning Tuesday's $522 million Mega Millions jackpot (303 million to 1, according to CNN). But still, pretty crazy.

Ried, who said he's a bogey golfer, used a 5-iron on both holes. He doesn't always use that club on the holes – he'll sometimes go with a 6-iron, depending on wind, how much rain there is and how soft the greens are.

"I'm just happy to hit the green, usually," Ried said. "You've got to have an awful amount of luck and very little skill. Most of these shots were straight and went right on. The first one had a bend and I knew it was close. Second one, very visible, hit it a little short and it rolled right in."

Witnesses were Jerry Willis, Bob Milhelm and Mark Smith.

Ried has been retired for about a decade now, after working for 25 years at Troy Design. He grew up on a farm between Mason and Holt, and lived in a house on the Eldorado Golf Course for 25 years. So he knows the course about as well as anyone can.

"If I wasn't there to talk to him about it, I would have never believed it," said course General Manager Mike Bell. "He's been playing a long time. It's just pretty incredible, really."

There was a hole-in-one at Eldorado on Monday as well. But that's nothing compared to two summers ago.

Remember those odds posted earlier? Well, guess what? That same thing happened two years ago at Eldorado, that time coming from Pete Jordan.

So golfers, heed this message: If you want to get two holes-in-one in the same round, go to Eldorado Golf Course in Mason.

Bell says there's usually around 12 to 15 holes-in-one at the course per year.

Ried's accomplishments may have actually been foreshadowed over the weekend, when he nearly hit a hole-in-one during a round at Treetops Resort in Gaylord.

"I came within six inches of it," Ried said. "I almost jarred it. I hit it six inches in front of the cup and it ended up six inches in back of it."

Contact Phil Friend at 517-377-1220 or pfriend@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Phil_Friend.