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Life is coming up aces for Utah amateur golf star Kirk Siddens

Two holes-in-one in one round is a rare feat, and he did it on consecutive par-3 holes.

(Photo courtesy of Kirk Siddens). Fruit Heights resident Kirk Siddens celebrates his second hole-in-one in a four-hole span Jan. 12 at Coral Canyon Golf Course.

Kirk Siddens' golf ball landed beyond the flagstick, spun backward and trickled toward the hole. Even before the ball made one last, slow revolution and dropped into the cup, a member of his foursome shouted, “You did it again.”

One of Utah’s best amateur golfers over the past couple of decades, the 56-year-old Siddens entered the 2019 season with two career holes-in-one. He doubled that total in a four-hole span of the Coral Canyon Amateur last Saturday in Washington, Utah.

The odds of any golfer making two aces in a round are 67 million to 1, according to the National Golf Foundation. Annette Gaiotti made two holes-in-one during a casual round at Hidden Valley Country Club in Sandy in 2002. Siddens' dual achievement came on consecutive par-3 holes and in a tournament, making it even more rare and explaining his immediate reaction of “something you can't print.”

The Fruit Heights resident acknowledged, “They could hear us all over the course.”

That's understandable. Thanks to a shotgun start, Siddens' aces came on his first five holes of the day. No. 3 at Coral Canyon Golf Course plays uphill. His 158-yard shot with an 8-iron looked good, and fellow competitor Jay Sheridan watched through his laser device as the ball rolled toward the hole in the back-left portion of the green. It disappeared, but nobody was sure it went into the hole.

“We didn't really freak out too much,” Siddens said. But they soon discovered the ace. Three holes later, the foursome (Siddens, Sheridan, Karl Avant and Kurt Jamison) moved to Coral Canyon's signature hole. No. 6 plays over a ravine to a green framed by red rocks, and his 105-yard shot with a 54-degree wedge turned out perfectly. Again. This time, the shot was visible from start to finish.

“All of us were screaming,” Sheridan said.

Sheridan then hit his shot within 3 feet of the hole, ordinarily a spectacular result. But the foursome's standards suddenly were high. This is Sheridan's recounting of the others' reaction: “Nobody says anything.”

And then there was more golf to play. Siddens said he was “as nervous as I've ever been in a golf tournament,” feeling obligated to post a good score with two “1s” on his card.

He completed a 7-under-par 65, resembling the response to his previous ace in competition, as he once shot a 60 at Rose Park Golf Course in the Salt Lake City Senior Amateur. Siddens didn’t play as well Sunday, shooting a 75, but he won the senior division of the Coral Canyon Amateur.