‘The excitement never goes away’

It seems ridiculous to regard someone as a real threat to hit a hole-in-one any time they tee off on a par-3 hole, but Vickie Lombard has given good reason for people to have such an expectation of her.

Recently, the Churchland resident, who grew up in Suffolk, used a single swing from 90 yards away to reach the hole on No. 9 at Cedar Point Country Club.

It was the eighth ace of her career.

“It’s wonderful,” Lombard said of reaching eight. “The excitement never goes away.”

It would be understandable if her perspective on the achievement were a bit different than most other golfers, though.

“I had four last year, and this is the first one I’ve had this year,” she said.

There is no trace of arrogance in her attitude, though some might be prone to it if they were in her shoes.

Some golfers play their entire lives and never hit a hole-in-one. Lombard, 68, did not start playing until she was 35.

It all begs the question: How has she been able to hit so many aces?

She acknowledges that this question is a good one.

“I don’t know,” she said in reply. Then, though still unsure about it, she offered the following: “Because I think about it.”

When she begins to play a par-3 hole, Lombard typically verbalizes her mindset.

“I’ll say, ‘OK, it’s time for a hole-in-one,’” she said.

Mostly she’s directing this to the other people in her group, encouraging them to make it happen, but she also thinks about and aims to make it happen herself when it’s her turn to tee off.

She recalled once having a dream about someone she knows achieving an ace in a given week, and her friend, Jim Teal, made it happen.

“I’m not one that can see the future or anything,” she said with a chuckle. “I just play a lot of golf, and those things enter your mind.”

In addition to her mindset, Lombard cited the Lord’s guidance and the execution of a good swing in the moment as reasons for her incredible success.

Having a good swing in the moment has certainly applied to Lombard. She noted some people have achieved holes-in-one despite bad shots, like with a ball bouncing off a tree and improbably going in, but “actually, all of mine were good shots.”

Her most recent one came on June 19 while she was playing with her husband, Bobby Lombard, and a couple of friends. She took her pitching wedge in hand to begin play on No. 9 at Cedar Point.

“I don’t like the hole,” she said. “It gives me a hard time a lot of times.”

Nevertheless, she has now aced it twice.

She said that after she swung her pitching wedge that day, she recalled thinking, “Oh, this might be pretty good.”

“As soon as I thought that, it took two hops and went right in the hole,” she said. “I thought I saw it go in.”

When she was able to confirm it, she said everybody was excited.

Lombard’s history of hitting holes-in-one began in the early 1980s, when she hit one at Sewells Point Golf Course in Norfolk.

Her other seven aces have all come at Cedar Point, where she has been a member since the early 1970s. She has hit two holes-in-one on No. 9, two on No. 12, two on No. 16 and one on No. 5.

All eight aces have come on par-3 holes.