What are the odds of three golfers, with handicaps between four and 15, making birdie on the same hole on a given round? I'm not sure. But it happened in my group this past Monday at Mystery Valley on the 7th hole. I was playing along with Jim Greene and Jamie Morrison, and quite frankly none of us was hitting the ball worth a darn. But a little magic reared its magnificant head on the par-5 7th. I teed off first and striped a drive down the right side, which is perfect on this downhill dogleg right. Jimmy, who's struggled with his driver of late, then sliced a drive into the trees right, and appeared to be in jail. As for Jamie, he did something I've never seen before from the blue tees. He smashed a towering blast over the trees on the right. His ball would settle inside of 200 yards.

Jimmy was first to hit his second shot. With two trees lurking precariously in front on him, and just two weeks removed from a member of our group seriously injuring himself by a speeding ball that ricocheted off a tree, he carefully threaded the needle with a mid-iron, his ball finishing near the 150-yard marker. I was up next, and was not at all pleased when I discovered my ball in a divot, about 230 yards from the pin. But thank goodness for rescue clubs! I low-burned my 22-degree Nike to within 60 yards of the green. Now it was Jamie's turn. He was left with 195 yards. It called for his trusty 2-iron (more on this club in future blogs, a story that will make you both laugh and cry - the latter because you're laughing so hard). He pured it! A high-driving hook that landed just in front of the green. Unfortunately, it skipped right thru the putting surface, and into the back bunker.

Jimmy was first to hit his third shot. A short iron that landed pin high, about 15 feet from the cup, which was center cut. I was next. A sand wedge to approximately 5 feet, leaving a straight up hill. Finally it was Jamie. With a precarious lie some 50 feet from the hole, he decided to putt from the bunker. Great creativity! A smooth stroke, his Molitor rolling end-over-end, to within 5 feet.

Jimmy was first to putt. A curling left-to-right sidewinder that dropped in the middle of the cup - birdie! I was next. A straight uphill putt that I had little difficulty draining - birdie! Next was Jamie. He was left with a slight downhill breaker. He knew the pressure was on. But it never showed. His claw-grip produced a stroke that was spot-on! Birdie! A group hat trick!

So I ask the question again - what are the odds of three golfers in the same group birding the same hole? Not sure, but it was a pleasure to see.