Florida golfer Gus Andreone, 103, scores a hole in one

SARASOTA, Fla. - A 103-year-old Florida golfer may have made history as the oldest person to record a hole in one.

The PGA of America announced on its website that Gus Andreone of Sarasota scored the ace Wednesday at Palm Aire Country Club. The group said it is likely that Andreone is the oldest golfer to score a hole in one, beating the previous record of a 102-year-old woman in 2007.

Andreone told Tampa Bay television station Fox 13 News that the ace marks his eighth since 1939. He used a driver on the 113-yard 14th hole of the Lakes Course, as he normally does, but then noticed something different. The ball went straight into the hole.

Andreone pocketed $80 for the feat, and says he looks forward to doing it again.

Certification of Andreone into the record books depends on whether the Lakes Course is regulation, something officials are working to verify.

Cliff Schrock, Editor at the Golf Digest Resource Center, told PGA.com he believes that certifiation is likely.

"We would see Mr. Andreone's ace as the oldest for male or female golfers if Palm Aire's Lakes Course is indeed a regulation layout. It looks that way to me on their website," Schrock told PGA.com in an e-mail.

Schrock told PGA.com that "the oldest male previously was Otto Bucher, 99, of Geneva, Switzerland on the 130-yard 12th hole at La Manga (Spain) Club in January 1985. He noted that 101-year-old Harold Stilson aced the 16th hole (108 yards) in 2001 at Deerfield Country Club in Deerfield Beach, Fla., but that course, however, has nine par-3 holes."

"We stubborn traditionalists don't like to recognize records unless they take place on a regulation course," Schrock said.