Everything is coming up aces for Gindi

By Mark Medina

April 23, 2009 12 AM PT

Dr. Elie Gindi of Los Angeles hadn’t been spending much time on the golf course lately because of tendinitis in his left elbow. In fact, his handicap had blossomed from a nine to a 13, and he had played only three rounds in the previous eight months.

So, as a guest at Brentwood Country Club on Tuesday, Gindi, who has been playing golf for 25 years, tried out a new swing to deal with the elbow pain. Apparently, something worked.

He scored the first hole-in-one of his career on the 198-yard par-three 15th hole with a hybrid club, then defied all odds by scoring another ace on the next par three, the 143-yard 17th, with a seven iron.

What are the odds of an amateur making two aces in one round? According to a Golf Digest report in 1999, about 9,222,500 to 1.

“Absolutely, totally ridiculous,” Gindi said Wednesday.

Trivia time

Which school has produced the most players picked in the NFL draft?

The cost of aces

Of course, one of the traditions after a golfer makes an ace is that he or she is responsible for buying drinks for everyone in the clubhouse, and Gindi, even though he was a guest at Brentwood, did just that.

But he’s a member at Hillcrest Country Club, and at his home course has hole-in-one insurance to cover the costs in the unlikely event one of his tee shots goes in the hole.

Brentwood, fortunately for the good doctor, has a reciprocal agreement, so Gindi paid for drinks and will be reimbursed by Hillcrest.

Colbert and K

Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert viewed teamwork with a skeptical eye during an interview Tuesday with Duke men’s basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski.

“You’re the LeBron James of your show, there’s no question about it,” said Krzyzewski, who appeared to promote his book about coaching the U.S. Olympic team to the gold medal in Beijing. “But if you put a Kobe Bryant on the show with a Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard and those guys, you might get better.”

Colbert asked: “What is the difference between teamwork and socialism?”

Said Krzyzewski: “What hurts socialism is you have a coach who wants to be a dictator.”

Trivia answer

Notre Dame, with 461 players. USC is second with 456.

Each school has had five overall No. 1 selections.

And finally

Arguing the Detroit Lions have “too many needs at 0-16,” Fox Sports’ Adam Schein advises the Lions to avoid selecting Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford as their No. 1 overall pick.

Says Schein: “Grab the franchise tackle. Don’t blow it. But then again, these are the rebuilding since 1957 Detroit Lions.”

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