The feat is made even more astonishing by the fact that Noel was back playing just his third round after a 12-month hiatus due to illness.
“It was on the east (course), the eighth hole, and I was playing with (daughter) Debra and two gentlemen from Woodend. It was the third time I’ve played in 12 months because I’ve been a bit crook,” he said.
“We had to wait because there were people on the green, so we had plenty of time, and these two blokes (from Woodend) said ‘par three, this is the money hole’, and I said if you get it nearest to the pin, you get the money.
“Then they asked me ‘what about a hole-in-one?’ And of course the gentleman I am, I turned around and said they’re easy. They told me they’d never played with anybody (that hit one) or seen one.”
While waiting for the green to clear, Debra advised Noel he might not have enough club to clear the water with the nine iron he had in his hand, a tip that proved to be very handy.
“We were waiting and waiting, and then I hit my eight iron, and the ball went in the hole, and I said ‘now that’s how you get a hole-in-one’,” he said with a laugh.
“Of course they went off, jumping around, and some women came over and took my photo and all of that, they were all carrying on.”
But Noel, an avid sportsman who has been involved with the Echuca Football Netball Club for more than 60 years, said his latest ace paled in comparison to his first.
“I’ve had one before this, in 1994. It was at Rich River on the west course, on the seventh hole, but that was a better one,” he said.
“I’d been to Queensland and I had just come back, and I had the hole-in-one and we were real happy. You used to get free beer back then.
“We went in to get the free beer and the trophy, and I rang up the wife saying come down for tea, because I had just won a trifecta on the horses. So I said come down, I’ve got enough money to pay for tea.
“So, she came out, and as we were walking in, I put four dollars into a (pokies) machine and won $37,000.”
The rare combination of a hole-in-one, a trifecta and a jackpot yielded Noel a small fortune last time, although his phenomenal shot this time around wasn’t quite as lucrative, scooping $99 as winner of the super-pin competition.
