Three times a charm: La Jolla golfer scores three holes-in-one

By Ashley Mackin

Matt Dykstra of La Jolla likes the number three. At three years old (he is now 10) he started playing golf. On three separate occasions at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club golf course, he hit a hole-in-one. All three times, the courses were par 3, and the third time was on March 3 (3/3/13).

“The first time I got one, I wasn’t expecting it at all and it was very strange. I was wondering ‘how did that happen?’” he said of his August 2012 hole-in-one. The second “surprise” was three months later, on Thanksgiving Day, 2012.

“The second time, it was even weirder because I didn’t expect it to go in, it was on an annoying hole, it was so hard. If you didn’t get (the ball) high enough on the green, it would slide down.”

The third time, Dykstra — the son of Michelle and James Dykstra and younger brother to Teddy — said he was less surprised because it was on a hole which he often plays well, typically getting a birdie (one under par).

Dykstra practices twice a week, one day at La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club and one day at Torrey Pines Golf Course. He said he prefers the Beach and Tennis Club, only because he has played there longer.

“I might want to become a pro-golfer, but I’m not sure,” the Explorer’s School student said, adding his favorite subjects are math, science and P.E. — which might explain why golf is the sport for him; golf demands both physical activity and math skills.

Dykstra’s mother pointed out that to be good at golf, one must have a knowledge and understanding of geometry and angles.

Another element to consider, Dykstra said, is the wind. “There is a lot of skill in- volved in golf, it’s about 70 percent skill and 30 percent luck, but the ‘luck’ in it is which way the wind blows.”