Add The New York Post on Google Grandma got run over by a cheating golfer.
Zach Holland, a 2-handicap amateur, used the cover story of having to check in on his struggling grandmother to set up his fake hole-in-one that has made him golf’s Public Enemy No. 1.
Holland said his actions have resulted in an onslaught of negative feedback.
“I made a terrible mistake, a lack of moral character and I can take the banter and the chatter and the heat because I deserve that from a golf perspective. What I am most worried about is my family. Breaking trust with a marriage I have had for what will be five years next month,” Holland told “The Morning After” in St. Louis while on vacation Friday. “We have two kids under three and it’s not fair to them for me to put them in that situation where when they walk through a room, there is a stigma there that your dad is a (cheater). Questions that they may get asked or be getting asked down the road, that’s the worst part. The golf is secondary. … There is no excuse for what I did. I was completely in the wrong.”
Holland did not outright tell the radio station about using his allegedly ill grandmother to orchestrate the events, but he confirmed the sequence of events during the recent members-only tournament at WingHaven Country Club in O’Fallon, Mo., after one of the hosts read them to him.
The former collegiate golfer, who admittedly wasn’t very good at that level while playing Juco and briefly for Eastern Illinois, told his group that he had to step away to take a call from his grandmother, who he alleged was struggling with her health.
Holland did not say during the interview if he has an ill grandmother.
While they played the third hole, he went ahead to the par-3 fourth hole and created a divot and placed the ball in the hole for the “surprise” hole-in-one.
When the group arrived, he told them he thinned his shot and didn’t know where the ball went, only for the group to discover he had accomplished a rare feat.
The four celebrated but some skepticism brewed due to the lack of a witness.
He rebutted the rumor that the course had video of him on the green putting the ball in the hole.
Holland said the camera was near the main shed and only saw him going by.
He eventually talked to the club’s general manager and while they mentioned about talking to corporate and the possibility of him not playing in events, Holland said he would resign.
“I told them I wanted to resign my membership, I don’t belong out there doing that,” he told the station.
“I completely made a fool of myself, but it’s more than that. I’ve gotten a lot of messages, some positive, mostly negative, which is straight.”
Holland added that he did not have any motivation for his actions, citing “complete stupidity.”
“I’m not a cheater on the golf course,” he said. “I made a bad decision and have to suffer this consequences. I’m trying to move forward the best I can. It’s been rough.”
Holland repeatedly said the “worst part” is the effect this has had on his family.
“I’m trying to get the help I need and the help that is going to help my family, that’s the most important thing. Golf is secondary. It’s a very lonely time. I put myself on an island and it’s all self-inflicted.”
“It’s pretty bad. It’s just like, people are ruthless. People that don’t even know me. It’s the worst thing you can do on the golf course. It’s the absolutely worst, it’s so stupid.”
