Oldest ace man dies

To a golfer, a hole in one is their greatest achievement. We strive throughout our career to land that elusive ace.

It’s what keeps many of us going into our dotage in the hope that one day, out of the blue, the ball will rise majestically from our tee shot, bounce on to the green and roll straight into the hole.

Such a player was Harold Hoyt Stilson, who at the age of 101, last May fired his ball with a shaky 4-iron at the 108-yard par-3 16th at Deerfield Country Club in the US and watched as it trickled up to the hole and dropped in.

The former saxophonist and clarinet player in Detroit big bands had been playing golf since 1921 and became the oldest player to hole-in-one. He admitted at the time that he almost had a heart attack.

But he survived until yesterday, when complications, after a viral infection, final sent him to that great golf course in the sky.

However, you can be sure he died a happy man.