THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, June 5, 1996               TAG: 9606050534
SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER 
                                            LENGTH:   37 lines

BEACH GOLFER GETS 1ST ACE, IF HE HAD ONLY PAID THE $5

Steve Brooks laughs ruefully when someone suggests that he is among the few golfers in the world who wishes he'd never made a hole in one.

It happened Saturday at Ocean View. Brooks, 31, a Virginia Beach resident, scored an ace on the 145-yard 17th hole. Had he donated $5 to a representative of the Diabetes Research Institute who was sitting next to the tee, his shot would have been worth $1,000 and a two-day, all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas to compete in a $1 million, hole-in-one contest in November.

``A woman called us over and said that, for a five-dollar donation, we could win one million dollars with a hole in one,'' said Brooks, who was playing Ocean View for just the second time. ``To be honest, the last thing I was thinking was that I'd make a hole in one.''

On the tee, Brooks pulled out a 9-wood he'd purchased that morning for $29 and had yet to swing. The shot landed on the fringe just behind a bunker that guarded the pin. Brooks then watched as it rolled onto the green, then 15 feet up the slope and into the cup.

``My friend Pete (Aquino) and I were jumping up and down, hugging each other,'' he said. ``That's when it hit me: 'You didn't pay the five dollars.' ''

According to Pat Schiavo, who represents the Diabetes Research Institute in Hampton Roads, Brooks is the third person to score an ace on one of the six local courses participating in this fund-raising project. But none are going to Vegas because they haven't made the donation.

``I don't look at it like I lost something,'' said Brooks, who shot 81, one stroke below his norm. ``I called a buddy who's a golf pro in Florida and told him about it. He said, 'Hey, now we have one hole-in-one between us.'

``I'll always have the memory of that shot. In fact, I can still see it as vividly as I did when I hit it. Like I said, I lost nothing. I gained a hole-in-one.'' by CNB