AUGUST 19 • 2021 | 39

busy with projects.
“I’ve only played golf in the 
B’nai B’rith league this year,” 
he said.
Baker’s hole-in-one was 
shot July 15.
The previous week in 
league play, he left a tee shot 
about a foot and a half from 
the hole on a par-3 hole on 
the West course at the Links 
of Novi, which has three 
nine-hole courses.
“That was the closest I’d 
come to shooting a hole-in-
one until I actually shot one,” 
Baker said. “I’d never even 
seen someone shoot a hole-
in-one until I shot mine.”
There were no early indi-
cations that Baker was going 
to shoot an ace the week 
after his close call. He had to 
scramble to shoot bogey on 
the first two holes.
“I consider myself a bogey 
golfer, but I wasn’t exactly 
on fire at that point of the 
round,” he said.
The pin on hole No. 3 was 
only about 5 feet behind a 
sand trap on the left side of 
the green.
Conventional wisdom said 
it was best to send a shot to 
the middle of the green and 
avoid the bunker.

But Baker’s shot went 
straight for the pin, landed 
below the cup, rolled a cou-
ple feet and dropped into the 
hole.
He remembers saying 
“Clear the bunker,” then he 
saw the ball disappear, fig-
ured it went into the hole, 
and he started yelling.
So did everyone else in his 
four-golfer group, includ-
ing league teammate Josh 
Harvith, “my best friend 
since second grade,” Baker 
said.
“What was amazing about 
my hole-in-one shot is there 
was such a small window 
to land the ball between the 
bunker and the pin,” Baker 
said.
Besides the ball he used 
for his hole-in-one and his 
scorecard from the round, 
Baker has another memento 
from his memorable day.
“I got a hat from the golf 
course,” he said.
This is Baker’s third year in 
the B’nai B’rith Golf League. 
He’s been teammates with 
Harvith, a Novi resident, all 
three years. 

Please send sports news to 

stevestein502004@yahoo.com.

League.
Weekly play will begin 
Aug. 24 and continue 
through Nov. 3, with a six-
week regular season, two 
weeks of playoffs, and 
time off for Jewish holi-
days.
Games will have 20-min-
ute halves and paid offi-
cials. Michigan high school 
rules will apply.
A prayer service will be 
held before and after each 
night’s games, with play 
beginning at 7 p.m. and 
continuing until 10 p.m.
Concessions will be 

available with profits split 
between the scorekeeper 
for games and Farber.
“My goal is for the 
Synagogue League 
to have 10 teams,” 
Shamayev said last week. 
“Realistically, I’m looking at 
six or eight.”
Interested in join-
ing the Synagogue 
League? Wondering 
about team fees? Send 
an email to Shamayev at 
Danielrshamayev@gmail.
com. 

continued on page 40

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