OLYMPIC sprint champion Allan Wells is celebrating another sporting triumph – his first hole-in-one at golf.
The Scots athletics legend shot to fame when he struck gold in the 100 metres at the Moscow Olympic Games in 1980. He is also a four-time Commonwealth gold medallist.
The 65-year-old has been a keen golfer since taking up the game at 40.
And he was thrilled when he scored an ace at the Craigmillar Park course in Edinburgh earlier this month.
“It took me four years to win an Olympic gold and 25 years to get a hole-in-one,” he told The Sunday Post.
“I couldn’t do a pirouette on the green like I did when I won the Olympics but it was still a special moment.”
Allan – originally from Edinburgh – lives in Guildford where he is a systems engineer at the University of Surrey.
He had travelled to Craigmillar to play a round with his old pal Rab Jackson and two other golfers before attending a presentation dinner at the club.
“I was playing really well and got round in 72, which is only two over par,” Allan said. “And acing that par 3 was the icing on the cake.”
Allan has been as low as a four handicap player in the past and he still plays off single figures.
“I had never played the course before and I had a birdie at the previous hole, so I was going well,” he said.
The short 11th hole is the most bunkered on the course.
“I was first to tee off at the 11th and used a pitching wedge.
“I knew I had struck the ball well but I couldn’t see the hole as there is a hump in front of it, so I had no idea it had gone in.
“When we got to the green there were three balls there and one was missing.
“When I looked in the hole, there was mine.
“I just thought, ‘Blow me, that’s a first’.”
Allan said he had to stump up for a round of drinks back at the clubhouse afterwards.
“It cost me 23 nips of whisky, but it was worth every penny.”
Allan’s playing partner Rab once scored a remarkable two holes-in-one during the same round at Craigmillar – at odds of 67 million to one.
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