N.J. Native Records Two Aces In Same Round At Pinch Brook

By Shabaz Singh, NJSGA Intern

What are the odds of having two hole-in-ones in the same round? According to the National Golf Registry, the answer is 67 million to one. On the morning of May 30, 25-year-old Nicole Iwata beat these odds to record two hole-in-ones in the same round at Pinch Brook Golf Course in Florham Park, New Jersey.

The first of the two hole-in-ones was recorded on the 131-yard par-3 10th hole. The tee was placed up front and she hit a perfect 6-iron which landed before the flag and rolled right in to the hole.

The second hole-in-one occurred at the 101-yard, par-3 17th hole. After hitting her tee shot, she saw the ball going at the pin but the angle of the sun made it hard for her to track it all the way. She heard the pin shake and thought maybe her ball hit the pin and ricocheted off the green.

Nicole looked around the green for her ball but couldn’t locate it. Then she walked towards the pin and in amazement saw the ball was in the hole and said, quote, “No that can’t happen again”.

She couldn’t believe that she recorded two hole-in-ones in the space of a couple of hours. She plays with Golden Bear clubs but on this occasion she played with her sister’s Taylormade Burner 2.0s as she did not bring her clubs along to New Jersey. Nicole ended up shooting an 88 that day. She had played at Flanders Valley earlier in the week and shot a 106 there.

On the day she was playing with her father Bill, who lives in New Providence, and they were paired with a twosome consisting of Alex Davis and Louis Bracero..

Nicole grew up in Chatham, then went to Watchung Hills Regional High School in Warren for three years before spending her senior year at the American School of Paris. After that, she attended Duke University where she majored in economics and European studies.

Nicole was a sophomore when Duke won the NCAA Basketball Championship in 2010 and said that she had a great time as a fan and that it was unlike anything else she had ever witnessed. She also spent a lot of time in Krzyzewski-Ville during her freshman and sophomore years, camping out in order to obtain tickets for basketball games.

Nicole has been working in operations in a bank in San Francisco for the past two years.

Nicole started playing golf at the Pitch and Putt at Green Knoll and the Academy Course at Neshanic Valley. Her father Bill was and still is an avid golfer and taught her the sport. She plays around five times a year. The last time she played at Pinch Brook before her astonishing round last month was back in August of 2014. She has played Pinch Brook many times.

When asked about her rare feat, Nicole said, quote, “It is unbelievable and seems a little unreal. I will take the hole-in-ones as opposed to winning the lottery,” Nicole said.

She really misses that day because she doesn’t get the chance to play with her dad very often due to the distance between them now. She is believed to be one of a handful of women golfers in history to score two hole-in-ones in the same round.

Reporter Shabaz Singh is a student at NYU.