A TRALEE man attending a golf competition broke the news to a Thai golfer that he had won a house after the Thai made a hole in one over the weekend -the first of two the Kerry man witnessed that weekend!

Kenneth Quillinan, from Derrylea, was following Damien McGrane, the only Irish golfer at the True Thailand Classic, when a local golfer Panuphol Pittayarat, nicknamed ‘Coconut’, hit a hole in one and earned himself a townhouse beside the course worth €322,963 (12 million baht).

“I was following the first group so there was no one around because it was 7am. We were unsure if it went in as we couldn’t see the bottom of the hole from the tee box,” Kenneth told us.

“So I ran up to the green, jumped the gallery rope and over to the hole to confirm it had gone in by giving out a huge roar. Needless to say he was delighted when he got to the green, I took some photos of him and he gave me the hole in one ball,which he signed.”

“After the round, he gave me a ‘Players Guest’ pass for the rest of the tournament,which meant everything was basically free, although I didn’t milk it too much.”

The hole in ones didnt stop there. Kenneth would go on to witness a second one on the final day of the tournament.

“The second hole in one was less dramatic as I watched it from the 13th green just across from the Par 3 14th – same hole that Coconut aced. This time it was England’s Anthony Wall and the celebrations were fairly muted as once again they were unsure if it had gone in until they reached the green,” said Kenneth.

Unfortunately for Anthony Wall, ‘Coconut’ had already won the house.

Kenneth is no stranger to TraleeToday.ie. You might remember he proposed to Katie Taylor at the World Boxing Championships last year (click here) and he also planned to bring GAA to North Korean students (click here).