MAY 30 • 2024 | 33
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ayden Dean is 17. He’s been
playing golf for 10 years. He has
two holes-in-one.
His latest ace was shot May 1 at
Knollwood Country Club in West
Bloomfield. Playing in a match for the
Frankel Jewish Academy boys golf team
against Grosse Pointe University Liggett,
Dean knocked it in the cup on the 186-
yard No. 6 hole with a 5-iron.
Nearly three years previously, Dean
was playing a round with his father
at Twin Beach Country Club in West
Bloomfield Township. He shot a hole-in-
one on the 156-yard No. 4 hole.
He also used a 5-iron for that ace, but
it wasn’t the same club he used May 1 for
his hole-in-one.
The date of Dean’s first hole-in-one
was June 5, 2021. That’s an emotional
day for the Dean family. Harold Dean,
Hayden’s grandfather, died June 5, 2003,
at age 66.
“That was crazy that I got a hole-

in-one on that day,” Hayden said. “I
remember I put a good strike on the
ball, but I didn’t see the ball go in the
hole. I couldn’t find the ball on the
green. It was in the hole.”
Hayden also didn’t see the ball go in
the hole in his latest ace.
His two playing partners, Frankel
sophomore Robbie Feldman and
Liggett’s Charlie Cooksey, didn’t see the
ball go in the hole but they were certain
Heyden shot a hole-in-one.
Their thoughts were confirmed when
Hayden retrieved his golf ball from the
hole.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Feldman said. “I
was surprised. Not a lot of kids our age
shoot a hole-in-one.”
Frankel coach Brian Cohen was
elsewhere on the course and didn’t see
Hayden’s hole-in-one. Liggett coach
Dan Sullivan said he arrived at the hole
“literally just in time to see Hayden tee
off.
“The two kids playing with him
thought his shot went in the hole. With
my 70-year-old eyes, I wasn’t 100% sure.
I knew it was close, though. That’s a long
hole for a par-3, and the pin was placed
in the back of the green on the left side.
This hole-in-one was no fluke.”
Sullivan said he was happy to be
among the witnesses for Hayden’s ace.
“The young man was ecstatic, of
course, but humble,” Sullivan said. “He
told me that was his second hole-in-
one. Wow. He’s a better golfer than me, I
guess.”
Hayden ended up shooting 6-over-par
42 for his nine-hole round. He had a par
5 on No. 7, a triple-bogey 6 on the par-3
No. 8, and a bogey 5 on the par-4 No. 9
to finish his round.
The Frankel junior had a premonition
a few days earlier that he was going to

shoot a hole-in-one.
During a family vacation in Florida, he
said, he asked his father out of the blue
if he thought he was ever going to get a
second hole-in-one.
“My dad said probably not because
it’s so tough to do,” Hayden said. “Three
days later, I shot the hole-in-one at
Knollwood.”
Shooting a hole-in-one in a high
school golf match isn’t very common.
Hayden is the first Frankel golfer to do
it.
The Michigan High School Athletic
Association doesn’t keep a record of aces
shot during a regular-season match, but
it has kept track of aces shot in the state
tournaments in recent years.
Only four boys and one girl have
scored an ace at state since 2018.
Hayden also is a tennis player at
Frankel. He’s worked his way up from
No. 4 singles to No. 3 singles to No. 2
singles in his three years on the team,
which has qualified for the Division 4
state tournament eight times in 10 years.
He likes tennis, but golf has a special
place in his heart. Why? He comes from
a family of golfers. And there’s more.
“Golf is relaxing,” he said. “It’s not so
tough on your body as tennis. And it’s
easy to socialize when you’re playing. I
like that.”
Does Hayden see more holes-in-one in
his future? Maybe.
“I have a lot of time to do it,” he said.
Steve and Jill Dean are Hayden’s
parents.
Hayden lives with his parents in West
Bloomfield. He has three older siblings,
Josh, 31, Sammy, 29, and Nicki, 26. His
brother lives in Huntington Woods and
his sisters live in New York.

Send sports news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.

Frankel Jewish Academy junior golfer Hayden
Dean shoots a hole-in-one during a Frankel match,
giving him two aces in his 10 years of playing golf.

Twice is Nice

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

SPORTS

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Hayden Dean returned
to Knollwood County
Club to show off the
golf ball he used for
his hole-in-one there.