North Jersey golfer sinks two aces in one round

J.J. Petrillo hit his final tee shot over water with a golf ball that he had just used to make a hole-in-one – and it went in the hole again!

The 64-year-old from Emerson hit golf’s version of the lottery by registering two aces - with the same ball - on April 18th while playing in a weekly nine-hole league at Valley Brook Golf Course in River Vale.

“One is a gift,” said Petrillo, a 12-handicap who has been playing golf for more than 25 years and previously had one ace. “Two in nine holes is unthinkable. It’s unthinkable.”

Unthinkable, unfathomable, unforgettable.

There are approximately 450 million rounds of golf played each year in the United States, according to the National Hole-In-One Registry, and the odds of two aces in the same round are 1 in 67 million.

Initially skeptical, The Record requested that Petrillo and a witness, Richard Janson, hold a Rules of Golf in their left hand, raise their right hand and swear to “tell the truth … so help me golf.” Returning to Valley Brook on Friday afternoon, they gladly complied.

Petrillo earned his aces on the par-3 seventh and par-3 ninth at an 18-hole course run by the Bergen County Parks Department and located 14 miles west of the George Washington Bridge.

Petrillo plays “two or three times a week,” and scored them on a Tuesday afternoon while serving as a substitute at the Jim Jacobsen Golf League, named in honor of its deceased president. Petrillo was in a threesome with Janson, his teammate, and Gary Chinery.

Interestingly, Petrillo did not play well that afternoon. Competing in the “B” Flight, he shot 9-over 44 on the 2,950-yard front nine and labeled his round “horrible.”

“There was nothing to write home about except for these two holes,” said Petrillo, who works at an auto dealership in Paramus. “It just so happened that on those two holes, I hit the ball the best I could.”  

Petrillo estimated the 7th hole was playing “about 175 to 180 yards.” With the wind in his face, he chose a 3-wood. With the hole located behind a bunker, the group wasn’t certain it was an ace until checking the cup.

“On the tee box, after I hit it, Ritchie said, ‘J.J., that’s in the hole,’ because it was on line,” said Petrillo. “I said to him, ‘Stop it!’”

“We got up to the green and he’s looking behind the hole for the ball, and I said, ‘J.J., it didn’t go behind the green,’ because I followed the whole shot and you would have seen the ball roll off past the green,” Janson said. “So we get up by the green, and I say, “Gary, I didn’t see the ball on the green, check the cup.’ And he walks up to the cup and says, ‘The ball is in the hole.’”

The ninth hole was playing about 145 yards, and the tee shot is over a sizable pond. Petrillo wanted to hit an 8-iron, but Janson urged him to hit a 7-iron and he relented. Again, it was on a straight line. It took a couple of bounces and this time they could see it go in the cup.

“He had a 7- and an 8-iron in his hand and he says, ‘I’m just going to hit a nice, smooth 8,’” said Janson. “And I said, ‘No, it’s getting cold, it’s a little chilly, we’re getting older, we don’t hit it like we used to.’ And I said, ‘Hit the 7. You’re not going to get to the cup with the 8.’”

“I was lucky I did, or it wouldn’t have made the hole,” said Petrillo, who hugged Janson after the second ace.

Valley’s Brook’s ninth hole faces the putting green and clubhouse, and Janson said at least one other person not part of the threesome also witnessed Petrillo’s second ace.

Ed Nepola, in the group ahead of Petrillo, has been a member of the league for more than 25 years and said the frequency of an ace is “Maybe one a decade.” Nepola said of the two aces, “You really have to play the game to realize how astounding it is.”

Scott Hector, president of the JJGL, wanted to be certain this “Tale of Two Aces” was legitimate. Hector spoke with Petrillo, Janson and several others and said, “I started to verify things and felt pretty sure.”

The ball that delivered two aces in less than one hour has been officially retired. Asked why he continued to hit a hole-in-one ball, Petrillo said, “I didn’t even think about that.” He hasn’t decided where he’ll display the ball in his home, but the memory is with him everywhere.

“It took a while for it to sink in that it actually happened,” Petrillo said. “And if ever I’m depressed, I think of something like this and what went on, and it brings me right out of any kind of mental thing that I might have in my head that’s a little depressing.

“This is euphoric for me.”

On the web

Watch a video of J.J. Petrillo speaking about his accomplishment. See this story on NorthJersey.com.