WESTLAKE, Ohio — It's the shot that every golfer dreams of—the elusive hole-in-one. But for 15-year-old Saint Ignatius golfer Joseph Maloof, that feat is no longer a dream.
On Monday at the Lakewood Country Club in Westlake, Joseph was taking tee shots on the 16th hole during a Saint Ignatius High School alumni golf invitational.
"Ignatius alumni people would pay $20 for an Ignatius golfer to hit one shot, and they could pay up to $80 for us to hit four shots," Joseph said.
The day felt like any other for Joseph, even perhaps a little worse than his typical outings.
"Honestly, the first two shots weren't the best," he said. "That day, I was just trying to figure out, maybe I can just get my swing better."
But after the first two shots didn't go his way, the rest of the day went well beyond what he could have imagined.
Joseph found his groove and played the 16th hole, a par three about 115 yards out, like a pro. He pulled out his 50 degree, hit his shot over the water hazard and landed the ball on the green.
A moment later, he realized what he had done.
"Everyone in the group was screaming. I was screaming because it was my first hole-in-one ever, obviously. And I just couldn't believe that it went in," Joseph he said.
The golfers in the group pulled out their phones to record Joseph pulling the ball from the cup and celebrating him along the way. The teen texted his mom to tell her what he had accomplished, proud of his first ace—but before she could text back with congratulations, Joseph had done it again.
"The first and second were about 30 minutes. And my mom didn't even have time to respond to my text message from my first to my second one," he said.
Joseph, taking another tee shot for an alumni golfer, sunk another ace. The other golfers went wild, and the teen was in awe of his impressive feat.
But he wasn't done yet.
Just over an hour after making his second hole-in-one of the day, Joseph hit a third.
"I made three hole-in-ones. It doesn't feel real; it's just crazy to me that I made three in the same day," Joseph said.
Joseph's sister Ava also couldn't believe it was real, but knowing how hard her brother works at his game, quickly realized it was quite achievable for him.
"Don't get me wrong, I was surprised because you don't hear about hole-in-ones often. So I seriously thought he was making it up when he said there was three. I was like, 'There's no way, quit lying,'" she joked. "I was definitely surprised. But he has the talent for it, 1,000%...he's been working so hard all summer, every day at the range or doing a golf tournament or something. So it was just so exciting to hear about."
Just a few days removed from the impressive accomplishment, Joseph is still getting high fives and high praise from other golfers at the country club as he makes his way through the course. Golfers have heard what he did and are impressed not only by the sheer number of aces but by the fact that a teen was able to pull it off.
Joseph thinks the reaction has been so strong because it shows the possibility for other golfers to hit their dream shot.
"I think they all love that I hit hole-in-ones because they know the possibility of making a hole-in-one. So that's why they're just all in shock," he said.
Now with three holes-in-one under his belt, Joseph is looking forward to sinking more as he pursues a future in the sport. He hopes to play at a D-1 school after high school. He's planning to keep playing in tournaments and hopefully make a name for himself to reach that goal.
Until then, Joseph has his eye on hitting another hole-on-one in a different setting.
"I want to do one in a real round because if I make three in one day, hopefully, I can make one in a real round for hopefully once in my life," he said.
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