It's a big deal to record a hole-in-one. It's a much, much bigger deal making one on a par-4. Making an ace on a par-4 with TV cameras rolling, that's off the charts.
Yet that's exactly what Jason Dumler did Thursday at Vista Ridge Golf Club in Erie. The 36-year-old Vista Ridge head professional, who had never before made an ace, broke the ice in a big way Thursday as CBS-Channel 4 was taping a segment for an upcoming program, "Colorado Back 9." Using a driver on the downhill par-4 17th hole, Dumler holed out from what he estimated to be 350 yards for a double eagle.
"I'll take that any day," Dumler said in an interview after the feat was aired Thursday evening on Channel 4. "What made the moment was that it was all on TV."
Cameras didn't actually catch the ball going into the hole, but Channel 4 sports anchor Vic Lombardi immediately thought it had. For his part, Dumler wasn't sure; from that far away, he thought it may have run past the flag. But a cameraman went down to check and relayed that there was a Nike ball in the cup — Dumler's Nike.
"I was ecstatic," said Dumler, who was born and raised in nearby Boulder. "But it took a while for it to sink in what happened. About an hour later I started shaking."
