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JOPLIN, MO — The Missouri Southern Football program hosted an alumni golf tournament at Eagle Creek Golf Course last Saturday with a $10,000 prize pot on the line if anyone could hit a hole in one, and 85-year-old Ken Goettel did the unthinkable by sinking a shot from over 140 yards out.
“It wasn’t an accident,” said Ray Harding, former MSSU National Championship-winning quarterback and Goettel’s scramble partner. “He hit a really nice ball, good height on it, and hit just in front of the green and rolled up on the green. And then it went in the hole.”
On the Par 3 16th hole, Goettel used a hybrid with 13-degree loft from 145 yards out to hit the hole in one.
“I was pretty shocked,” Goettel said. “The first guy hit his and was about ten feet away and I thought, ‘Well, you got a birdie now anyway.’ And then I hit mine. We got an eagle.”
Goettel also said this is the third time he has scored a hole in one on the golf course, however it’s the first time making one for the “big bucks.”
With tournament representatives essentially forming a gallery for Goettel’s group in order to film each shot for the hole-in-one challenge, plenty of people were there to witness the accomplishment.
“[There was] a lot of laughter going on. People screaming ‘He did it, he did it!’ And back here behind the green I had a gallery where they videotape each shot and they were going crazy,” Goettel said.
His longtime friend and scramble partner at the tournament, Harding, had an up close and personal look at the shot that won $10,000.
“You know about the $10,000. It’s on paper. You can see it,” Harding said. “But you don’t think about anything other than ‘I see it.’ And when we finally rolled around to hole 16, you know, when it was all said done and the hole in one happened, it’s just pretty exciting that it did.”
All proceeds from the tournament registration fees and sponsorships will go toward benefiting the Missouri Southern Football program.
For those that believe they might have what it takes to sink a hole in one for prize money, Missouri Southern Football Alumni will be holding another golf tournament next year on April 11, 2026 with the potential for a $25,000 prize pot next time around.
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