String of aces is a mixed blessing for novice golfer

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — A hole in one can bring exhilaration to a round of golf. Jacqueline Gagne has discovered that 14 holes in one in four months can actually make the game a little stressful.

"I'm not a serious golfer, but I've had to become a serious golfer," said Gagne, the Rancho Mirage, Calif., resident who gained international fame for scoring 14 aces between January and May. "I play for the fun, to go out and have a great time. But after all of these holes in one happened, you kind of have to get a little more serious about your game and play every shot."

Gagne's incredible run of aces, starting Jan. 23 and extending most recently to May 25, has caught the imagination of golfers and media from London to Australia. Having played for only four years, Gagne's claimed aces dwarf the numbers of even accomplished players and produced staggering odds of septillions to 1 against. By comparison, one ace in a single round of golf rates 5,000 to 1, according to Golf Digest.

But along with the praise and amazement of those who embrace the story have come the snorts and the outright scorn of those who can't believe Gagne's claim, even with witnesses and verification seemingly plentiful.

"She has the proof. She does have a whole bunch of people that are saying, 'I saw it,"' said Robert Barnes, director of golf at Mission Hills Country Club — the site of nine of Gagne's aces. "And we have nobody who is saying, 'Well, I was there and it didn't happen."'

The demands of the sudden celebrity status that sparked dozens of television, radio, magazine and newspaper interviews as well as the barbs of the doubters and critics has been so difficult at times that Gagne admits to going underground for a while to avoid the spotlight.

"You get caught up in defending yourself, and I really got caught up in that," Gagne said. "Finally, I just said to myself, you know, it speaks for itself. I can't be chasing down all these fires."

Gagne's saga began with a story in The (Palm Springs, Calif.) Desert Sun on April 28 when her total had reached seven aces and an odds-against of 113.5 quadrillion to 1. Within a week, she made another ace, and two more followed quickly. Her story was picked up by national publications such as the Wall Street Journal and Golf World magazine.

As the aces continued to roll in, Gagne did national television, radio and print interviews that appeared as far away as The Times of London. A 10-minute feature on Gagne now exists on YouTube.

"It exploded. It was crazy, the phone calls coming in," Gagne said. "I had to get a (public relations) person just to kind of filter through the crazies."