MAY 30 • 2024 | 33 J N H 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.