Hayden Buckley didn’t stick around for the weekend at the 3M Open, but before he left town, Buckley put together one of the wildest two-hole runs I can remember.
Buckley had already made three double bogeys in 15 holes of golf with a score of 6 over par when he nearly sank his ball into the water on the par-4 16th hole. His second shot from the edge of the penalty area hit a red stake and bounced into the lake. A frustrated Buckley picked up the stake and stuck it into the ground.
“I didn’t really have a chance, I probably needed to chip, but at that point I just wanted to try to hit a shot,” Buckley said. “Ironically, my caddie asked me if that red stake was in the way, and I told him there was no chance it was in the way. It was about 10 feet to the left of my ball, and I think it came out a little low and to the left and hit the stake. And at that point I was like, OK, I think I’m ready to book a flight out of here.”
After hitting his fourth double of the day, Buckley was 8 over par as he stepped onto the 17th tee. To top it off, he had to wait about 20 minutes to tee off. Buckley eventually swung an 8-iron and recovered both shots with an ace from 178 yards.
Double bogey, hole in one.
How about that stretch?
“It gave me a little something to smile about on the way home,” said Buckley, who birdied his final hole to finish at 5-over 76 and miss the cut by seven shots. “Overall it was a terrible day, but at least I got a ‘1’ to get under 80 and got a little souvenir to look back on.”