ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, December 12, 1995             TAG: 9512120020
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-1  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: LEXINGTON
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER 

GOLFER'S BEST SHOT CAN'T SEEM TO MISS

If Northwestern football had an astounding year, then how deep do you dig for adjectives to describe the accomplishments of Sally Carter?

Carter, who has played golf for about 20 years, had her first hole in one on Feb. 25.

Then she had another one Aug. 26.

Then she had another one Sept. 30.

Then she had another one Nov. 5.

``It's incredible,'' said Betty Hall, who has watched Carter's stunning accomplishment with bemusement and befuddlement. ``I was there for all of them. The first one was exciting, then the second one was really unreal. By the fourth one, it was just amazing.''

What is amazing is that Carter, a retired art teacher at Parry McCluer High School, didn't save all of the scorecards or each of the golf balls she holed off tees at Lexington Country Club.

``I scrounged around and found two of the cards,'' said Carter, a Lexington resident. ``The other two I threw away, I think. I kept using the balls because I figured it was good luck. Probably some of those are gone now. What would I do with them? They'd probably just collect dust, anyway.

``It was exciting, but I didn't think much of it at the time. The fourth one kind of surprised me. I thought three was right many.''

It is. Some golfers play their lives without an ace. Carter's husband, Al, has three holes in one in his golfing resume, also all at Lexington Country Club. Owner and operator of Alvin-Dennis men's clothiers in Lexington, Carter can only shake his head at his wife's fortune.

Hall, the circuit court clerk in Buena Vista and witness to each of Carter's aces, now has other club members wanting her in a foursome.

``They think I'm a good-luck charm, I guess,'' she said. ``I've had two holes in one, but not four in one year. We all told Sally she should play the lottery.''

Carter isn't buying. ``The odds are too high,'' she said.

Carter is right. According to the Virginia Lottery, chances of winning in the six-number game are one in 7.1 million. The National Hole in One Association, a golf information clearing house in Dallas, said the odds on an ace are one in 10,000 shots. That's just one, however.

How about four? How about four in 81/2 months? How about four in 81/2 months by an amateur who plays only three or four rounds a week during the warm months? How about four by a 22-handicapper, which Carter is.

``The best round I've ever had is an 85,'' said Carter, who shot that on one of her days with an ace. ``I'd like to get another one of those. Getting a hole in one, a lot of that is luck. I'd rather get another 85.''

Carter's first three aces came on No.8, a slightly downhill 121 yards from the red tee. Her Nov. 5 hole in one came on No.14, where she didn't see the ball go into the cup from 105 yards because of the hole's uphill slope. Carter used a 7-iron for the first and last two of her aces. The August hole in one was launched with an 8-iron.

Lexington club pro Grover Smith calls Carter's feat ``probably the most amazing thing I've seen'' topping the day about a decade ago when David Brogan - the 1994 Virginia men's State Amateur champion - had two holes in one in the same day.

``Let's put it this way,'' Smith said. ``I've been in that pro shop 36 years, and I have yet to have one. But four in one year. Usually, I'd say we have anywhere from four or five up to eight holes in one [at the club] in one year, probably an average of no more than seven a year. One person with four is unheard of.''

Carter said that when she was nearing retirement last year, ``someone told me, `Well, your golf game will improve,' and it has. I'm not sure you're more focused, but I'm more relaxed, because you don't have the duties related to work to think about.''

She doesn't necessarily attribute her slight increase in hours on the golf course to her starting to hole tee shots.

``The last time I played, I was standing there on the tee at No.8 and I thought about making a hole in one,'' Carter said. ``Not that I thought I could do it again.

``Then I shanked the ball over into the woods.''

That must have been one of those 9,999 other shots.

LENGTH: Medium:   81 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  DON PETERSEN/Staff. Sally Carter got three of her four 
          holes in one with her seven iron. color.