Hayes Center golfer drains $10,000 hole-in-one

Monday, August 4, 2014

Cody Jeffers (center), Hayes Center, claimed the $10,000 Hole-In-One prize offered at Hole No. 16 at the Hillcrest Golf Tournament on Saturday. Pictured from left are Lucy Evans, tournament co-director; Bryan Loker, High Plains Radio, corporate sponsor; Jeffers; Joe Townsley, Trenton Agency, contest sponsor; and Colinda Nappa, designated Hole No. 16 contest witness. (Photo courtesy Pam Harsh)

McCOOK, Neb. -- Cody Jeffers said that as soon as he struck the golf ball with his club off Heritage Hills Golf Course's 16th tee Saturday, he thought he had a chance at a hole-in-one. His instincts were as straight and true as his shot, but on this day, that ace was worth more than just a lifetime's worth of bragging rights.

$10,000 more, in fact.

Jeffers, from Hayes Center, was golfing in one of the four-person scramble teams during Saturday's Hillcrest Golf Tournament, the fourth annual presentation of the golf outing and fundraising event which benefits the McCook nursing home's foundation, when he made the winning shot.

The prize was sponsored by insurance agent Joe Townsley of the Trenton Agency's McCook office. Townsley said that, to his knowledge, prizes of this nature have been awarded only once or twice in the history of Heritage Hills, according to a press release from Pam Harsh, the director of the Hillcrest Nursing Home Foundation.

Colinda Nappa, Hillcrest Nursing Home's administrator, was the official spotter on the 16th, and called it "the most exciting part of the day." She could see where he was teeing off from, and heard him strike the ball, which "landed on the west side of the hole and it kept going and going."

Jeffers' ball ultimately dropped into the cup, which led to screams and cheers from Nappa that caught the attention of all within earshot on the course. "I was screaming so loud," Nappa admitted.

Harsh reported that she will work with the insurance company, Hole-In-One International, to process all of the required paperwork to process the claim for Jeffers' prize money.