One-armed amateur aces hole on PGA Tour stop
This week’s PGA Tour event in California has a host of golf’s biggest names — Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Tony Finau, to name a few.
But during Thursday’s opening round, it was an amateur who had the day’s most memorable shot.
Laurent Hurtubise, who was born with one arm, recorded a hole-in-one on the 151-yard par-3 fourth hole at the PGA West Stadium Course in La Quinta, California.
The PGA Tour tweeted video of the ace, as well as the reaction of Hurtubise, who threw his hat in the air and high-fived members of his group.
Inspirational. ❤️
Laurent Hurtubise was born with one arm and started playing golf at age 11.
On Thursday, he made an ace at @theamexgolf. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/0Rpa8FhpyD
Hurtubise, from Canada, was playing with veteran PGA Tour member Troy Merritt as part of the The American Express tournament, which is a pro-am. According to PGA Tour.com, Hurtubise began playing golf at age 11 and has competed in this event as an amateur multiple times.
He was born with a right arm that ends just below the elbow. Taking a full, left-handed swing, Hurtubise previously told the Desert Sun that he can drive the ball a good 230 yards, and when he competed in this event in 2018 (when it was named the CareerBuilder Challenge), he shot a 78 and also holed out from 60 yards.
But Hurtubise said inspiring others is his real thrill.
“I wish I could do more of that, to be honest,” he told the Desert Sun two years ago. “But it does feel fulfilling when someone tells me they’ve been inspired to play a sport because of me.”