One Ball. Two Strangers. Two Hole-In-Ones.
The hard-to-believe story of the luckiest ball in the history of golf.
Sports breed hot streaks, that magical alchemy when seemingly nothing can go wrong. When players can’t stop hitting threes. When teams reel off win after win. When duos push each other further and further.
And if reports out of Minneapolis are to be believed, even sports equipment can catch fire every now and then.
Last week, at Minneapolis Golf Club, 13-year-old Preston Miller teed off on the No. 4 hole, acing it from 121 yards out. The seventh grader was hitting into the wind, and when he saw his ball—white with his school’s ‘SLP’ logo on it—drop into the cup, he screamed and celebrated. It was his first hole-in-one.
Most golfers know that if you ever achieve a rare hole-in-one, you put that ball immediately in your bag. It’s a keepsake you’ll want to keep forever, will frame alongside a scorecard and a picture from the round. But Miller was so jubilant that he didn’t have that type of levelheadedness. He shoved the ball into his pocket, and when he reached the next hole, he pulled it out to keep playing.
Now, even a golfer talented enough to ace a hole before they’re through with middle school hits a bad shot every now and then. And that’s exactly what happened three holes later. Miller’s ball smacked into a tree branch, and although he hunted through the rough, he couldn’t find it anywhere.
And this is when the story gets really nuts.
Miller finished the round, went into the clubhouse, and soon he was drinking a root beer to celebrate.
Around that time, Ricardo Fernandez shanked a shot from No. 12, right near the spot where Miller’s ball hit a tree. While hunting through the rough, Fernandez found a white ball with an SLP logo on it. Never one to pass up a perfectly good ball, Fernandez threw it in with the rest of his extra balls.
Before teeing off on hole No. 16, Fernandez needed a new ball. "It was right on top," he explained to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "It was a great ball. I wasn't playing very well so [I thought I] might as well hit this one."
Fernandez did hit it—181 yards right into the cup.
One ball. Two players. Two hole-in-ones, just hours apart.
When Fernandez got to the clubhouse to celebrate, he saw Miller and his friends drinking their root beers. Recognizing their school logo, he went over to thank them for unknowingly donating one of their balls.
“Where’d you find it?” one of Miller’s friends asked.
Pretty soon, the dots were being connected. The two took a picture. The clubhouse buzzed with excitement.
And Fernandez handed the ball back to Miller. It’s sitting on a shelf in his room now, next to some trophies—the luckiest ball in the history of golf.
👟 Check out our new digital series Running While Black. Produced with Adidas and Vice TV and narrated by Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Running While Black is a three-part series that changes the conversation in sports; promoting equality and highlighting runners whose shared identity shapes their daily experiences. Watch it here.
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