Amateur Plays His Way Into Masters With Hole-In-One… on a Par 4

Last April when the world’s 2,535th-ranked amateur golfer gazed at the TV tuned to the Masters while sitting in a Farmington, Minnesota, saloon, he told his dad that someday he would take him to Augusta National to watch the tournament.

Of course, Sammy Schmitz expected to join his dad as a fan, never imagining that he would be teeing it up on Thursday as one of the 90 tournament players all vying for the coveted green jacket. Sammy’s dad Steve, his brother Simon, wife Natalie, and two daughters, Aubrey and Allie, will all be in Augusta to cheer for the unlikely Masters entrant.

Schmitz, a Division III Golf All-American, developed his athletic skills playing hockey and golf as a teen. He even hacked around for a couple of seasons on the Hooters Tour.Sammy decided that playing golf for money took the fun out of the game, so he dropped out and reinstated his amateur status.

Nevertheless, it was a special drive that he hit on the 33rd hole of a 36-hole finals at the U.S. Mid-Amateur that paved the way for his Thursday tee time.

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