Canadian amateur aced Augusta first

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Ross Somerville finished the inaugural event tied for 43rd.

Everyone knows Gene Sarazen made the first double eagle in Masters Tournament history.

The 4-wood shot from 235 yards on the 15th hole in the final round of the 1935 tournament is part of Masters lore.

Plenty of famous shots have happened at Augusta National Golf Club since the first event in 1934, but do you know who made the first hole-in-one in tournament history?

Ross Somerville, of course.

The Canadian amateur made the first ace on what is now the 16th hole at Augusta National. He used a mashie niblick (the equivalent of a 5- to 7-iron) to hole his tee shot on the 145-yard hole.

The nines were reversed after the first Masters, so Somerville's shot came on the seventh hole. It occurred in the second round.

"Ross (Sandy) Somerville, diminutive Canadian amateur, made history when his drive to the 145-yard 7th dropped into the cup for a hole-in-one," sports editor Tom Wall wrote in The Augusta Chronicle's front-page article of March 24, 1934.

Alan Gould, sports editor of The Associated Press, noted that Somerville fell to the back of the field despite the hole-in-one.

"Somerville consoled himself for an otherwise weird round, a 78 which left him in the rear with 160, by plunking a mashie niblick shot to the 145-yard 7th green and watching the ball hop into the cup on the first bounce. It was the first 'ace' to be scored on the Augusta National layout," Gould wrote.

Nineteen holes-in-one have been made during Masters play, including 11 on the 16th hole. Ian Poulter made the most recent one in competition when he aced the 16th with an 8-iron from 169 yards a year ago.

Somerville finished out the 1934 Masters with rounds of 74 and 77 and tied for 43rd. He made one other Masters appearance, in 1938, and closed with 1-under-par 71 to tie for 36th.

Somerville was quite an athlete. According to his biography, he was a top player in cricket, football and hockey. But golf was where he excelled the most.

He won six Canadian Amateur titles, and he was the first from his country to win the U.S. Amateur. He died in 1991 and was recognized for his feats by being inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

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