During the Golf Channel’s Wednesday broadcast of Morning Drive, Gil Hanse joined a group to play The Cradle, Pinehurst’s short course, live on television. The round was streamed in full on Facebook, and at the 8th hole, Hanse, who designed The Cradle, came AGONIZINGLY close to making an ace in front of about 200 spectators – and with Golf Channel’s cameras rolling.

Golf Channel, though, didn’t get nearly as good of an angle as we did. You HAVE to see just how close Hanse came to acing the 8th hole.

It reminds us of a brilliant old story about another great golf architect – Donald Ross:

A Life Lesson

Old Tom Morris was against gambling in golf and advised Ross to never bet on the golf course beyond a small wager. “Why make a horse race out of a game like golf?” Morris posited. Ross took Old Tom’s words to heart and for the rest of his life rarely played for stakes beyond a quarter Nassau. Ross said that Calcutta pools “don’t belong in such a fine, clean game.”

Once at Pinehurst, a young man who didn’t know Ross asked him for a game and a $25 Nassau.

“Let’s just play for the fun of the game,” Ross countered.

The young man insisted, so Ross relented, played the visitor and beat him soundly.

“I built the course,” Ross told his opponent. “Let this be a lesson to you: Don’t play for high stakes with a stranger.”

-Lee Pace

Here’s how Gil’s shot looked on Instagram when it happened: