Laurent Hurtubise is 61 years old, but this week at the American Express pro-am in the California desert, the Canadian amateur said that he feels much more like 17.
That feeling began Thursday when Hurtubise, who was born without a right hand or forearm, made a hole-in-one on the 151-yard par-3 No. 4 at the PGA West Stadium Course in La Quinta, Calif.
He used a six-iron and his tee shot dropped near the front of the green and rolled directly to the pin and fell into the hole. He threw his hat and left arm into the air in celebration.
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Tour pro Greg Chalmers played in the group and witnessed the shot.
“We all went up in celebration and Laurent went ballistic and maybe let out a few choice words,” Chalmers said, according to Golf Channel. “But who could blame him? It was an incredible shot.”
So incredible, in fact, that it caught national attention and was ESPN’s top play on the nightly SportsCenter Top 10 countdown. Hurtubise concluded the day with a round of drinks at a local club, still reveling in the moment hours later.
“It was hard playing today,” Hurtubise said with a chuckle Friday at La Quinta Country Club. “Everyone congratulating and everything, so it was hard staying in the moment.”
Paired with pros Tyler McCumber and Nelson Ledesma on Friday, Hurtubise still finished his second round with a five-under 67 and sits tied for 96th on the pro-am leader board after two days.
He’ll play the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course on Saturday.
Hurtubise played with Chalmers and pro Troy Merritt on Thursday, and both were floored that an amateur with one arm could make a hole in one on the PGA Tour.
“That was the coolest experience I’ve had on the golf course,” Merritt told PGATour.com.
Hurtubise said that Merritt privately told him that he was an inspiration to him and that the moment made his week.
It was amateur playing partner Joe Pusateri, though, who inspired the shot. Hurtubise said he watched Pusateri eagle the third hole and that made him want to try to eagle on the fourth. His caddie told him to use the six-iron for a fade that would land about 10 feet in front of the hole.
Hurtubise gave it a try.
“So, I hit a fade and it landed about five or six yards on the green and it rolled about 15 yards to the pin,” said Hurtubise, who perfected his one-handed forehand swing playing hockey, baseball and golf for much of his life. “I heard ‘clunk’ and it disappeared. That was it.
“It was incredible.”
This is the seventh time Hurtubise has played here at this event. He skipped last year and made a snap decision to play here again about a month ago.
Hurtubise took some time off from the sales retention business he runs, and he and his girlfriend caught a flight down here on Jan. 11. Five days later, he recorded the swing of his life.
Hurtubise said he likes the courses down here because they play a little like his home course, with open fairways, greens that aren’t too elevated and bunkers that aren’t too deep.
In 50 years of playing, Hurtubise said that it was his third hole-in-one. But, he noted, this was clearly the best of the three. He called it the hole-in-one of his career — one he won’t soon forget.
“You know, during the tournament, on the Stadium Course,” Hurtubise marveled.
“It makes me eight feet tall.”
