Osterlofs Defy Odds With Back-to-back Aces

Dad Stephen E. and son Stephen H. Osterlof of River Edge, who played in the last two NJSGA Father & Son Championships, had a day they’ll never forget on Sunday, May 3.

While playing the Rutgers University Golf Course in Piscataway, Stephen E. recorded the first hole-in-one of his 38-year golf career, using a hybrid 4-iron on the 200-yard eighth hole.

Moments later, son Stephen H., a senior at Rutgers, matched his dad with the first ace of his life, using a five iron. The Osterlofs were playing with family members Bob Osterlof, brother of Stephen E., and his son Robbie.

“The balls disappeared and at first, we thought they went back over the green and into the rough,” said dad, Stephen E., a project manager for T Mobile. “But my son looked in the hole and there were two balls. For his to go in on top of mine, he must have hit it just right. I got to enjoy my hole in one for all of two minutes.”

The odds of hitting a hole-in-one are 1 in 12,750. Back-to-back aces up that rarity exponentially. According to the National Hole-in-One Registry, the odds of two players from the same foursome recording an ace on the same hole are estimated at 17 million to one.

The Osterlofs won the Bergen County Father and Son Championship three straight years, 2008-10.

Stephen H. picked up the game 10 years ago, playing in the Pioneer Junior Tour, administered by the Bergen County Department of Parks. A caddie scholar at White Beeches C.C., he graduates from Rutgers on May 14 with a degree in sales and marketing. He played four years of golf at River Dell High School and was also a member of Rutgers’ club team.

Robbie played on the Don Bosco Prep golf team, graduating in 2008.