If you have trouble believing this story, don’t feel bad. Joseph Maloof’s own mother thought he was joking when he told her about his day at the Thomas F. Koch ’88 Alumni Golf Outing benefitting Saint Ignatius High School (Cleveland) earlier this week.
The 15-year-old sophomore from Avon, Ohio, is a member of the two-time defending state champion boys golf team at Saint Ignatius and was participating in the annual charity event. Maloof was parked on the 120-yard par-3 16th hole at Lakewood Country Club, and groups in the outing could use his tee shot if they made a $20 donation to charity. Koch passed away while attending the school, and all profits from the event go to a scholarship established in his memory.
Of the 24 groups to use his tee shot, three walked away with a one on the scorecard as Maloof made not one, not two, but three aces during the outing, all with his 50-degree wedge.
“After I finished the outing it didn’t feel real. I came home, took a shower, ate dinner and went to bed like nothing happened that day,” he said. “The next day it started kicking in I’m like, ‘Wow, I really made three holes-in-one?’”
Maloof missed the green with his first two attempts, but on the third he figured out the issue. The Avon, Ohio, native landed his ball just beyond the pin and spun it back into the hole for not just his first hole-in-one of the day, but his first ever.
“The whole group was going crazy and it felt weird because I’ve never experienced or even seen a hole-in-one on TV or with my friends,” said Maloof, a member at Lakewood. “So it felt weird but also felt great because it was my first hole-in-one ever.”
His second hole-in-one came just a few swings after the first, and the final ace was near the end of the day.
“The first one we were all like screaming and shouting. The second one, only me and my teammate Bradley Chill saw it drop. The people that were in the group didn’t see it go in,” Maloof said. “Both of us were just laughing and they didn’t know what was going on until they found out it went in. Then they all started screaming and hugging me.”
Maloof held on to the first two balls he made aces with, but he doesn’t have the third.
“One of the guys told me to hit one of their balls and I made one of theirs. I didn’t want to be rude and say, ‘Can I keep it?’” explained Maloof. “I probably should have.”
Saint Ignatius golf tryouts are next Monday and Maloof is feeling good about his chances of making varsity and helping the Wildcats win a third consecutive state title. After all, he knows a thing or two about three-peats.