Not much shocks Bevan Nicolaisen when it comes to golf. However, on the morning of Sept. 11, he “nearly swerved off the road” after receiving a shocking text message while on his way to Bend Golf Club, where he’s the membership director.
His friend and club member, Craig Biss, 74, had aced a hole that morning. But that’s not the shocking part. He says that while hole-in-ones aren’t an everyday occurrence, they’re not uncommon. No, the astonishing part is that Biss also shot an ace the day before.
“I’ve been in the golf world for many years, and I’ve yet to see back-to-back holes-in-one like that,” said Nicolaisen. “I was there on Thursday when he made a hole-in-one on the sixth hole, which is arguably our most difficult hole on the golf course. He hit a 5 wood, and it’s kind of a narrow, peanut-shaped green with a bunker on the left. He hit a really nice little fade, and it bounced perfectly off his fade and just kind of slow-rolled in. I started screaming — I went a little crazy after it went in. I might have been more excited than he was at first. He was in shock.”
A hole-in-one, or ace, occurs when a golfer hits a ball off the tee, and it goes directly into the hole with no further shots taken. According to the National Hole-in-One Registry, the odds of the average golfer making a hole-in-one are 12,500 to one. Additionally, according to Hole In One International, the odds are 156,250,000 to one of a player making a hole in one on consecutive days.
Biss, a 13-handicap golfer, first aced the club’s 180-yard, par-3 sixth hole on Sept. 10 as his stunned playing partners watched, including David Lyon, Todd Steimer and Nicolaisen. The next morning, he improbably did it again, this time on the 115-yard, par-3 11th hole, which had a special U.S. flag marking it. The club does that every year to commemorate 9/11.
Niss’ wife, Peggy Biss, his daughter-in-law Kelsey Biss, and family friend Kathy Bruckner, visiting from South Dakota, witnessed the once-in-a-lifetime moment. The three women were playing a round to prepare for a members’ tournament the following day, and Craig Biss had joined them to make it a foursome.
“The night before, when I got the first hole-in-one, we had dinner and drinks, and then I woke up the next morning all excited about golf again, because, you know, it’s an up-and-down thing,” said Biss. “The hole-in-one on Friday, that was only 115 yards. I hit it pretty good, and it bounced once and then just started flowing towards the hole, and you could actually see it disappear. That’s the part that I’ll remember, when all of a sudden, the ball just disappears. It was pretty cool.”
At Peggy Biss’ tournament, the announcer made mention of “The Biss Week” at Bend Golf Club, and that was no joke. Peggy Biss and Bruckner won the “horse race” at the golf tournament, which is a shootout event that’s sometimes played in addition to a main tournament. In a horse race, two-person teams start at the course’s first hole, and the team with the highest score at each hole is eliminated until a winning team results. Additionally, the two women also won first net in their flight during the regular tournament, as did Kelsey Biss in her flight.
Craig Biss, who’ll turn 75 on Sept. 22, said golf is a family affair. He took up the sport 45 years ago, while running his own business, Craig Biss Concrete Construction. In addition to his wife playing, so too does his son, and Kelsey Biss’ husband, Mitchell. He is a former varsity golfer at Mountain View High School and at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, and is the president of the men’s golf association at Bend Golf Club. The Biss’ daughter, Courtney Therien, is also a golfer and the membership director at Bend’s Broken Top Club. They also have five grandchildren, including Payten Biss, a Caldera High School senior and top-ranked high-school golfer.
“When I started golfing, I was 30, and I had my own business, and so you feel like you’re in control of your destiny, and you feel in charge. And then you start golfing,” said Biss with a hearty laugh, explaining that the sport kept him enthralled because, as many golfers can attest, he’d have a great shot and then a not-so-great shot, without being able to discern the reason why. “It was a real obsession for me at first because you just can’t understand why you couldn’t hit it again like you did before.”
The recent odds-defying holes-in-one aren’t the first for the Bend retiree. He had one two years ago, also on the sixth hole at Bend Golf Club, and shot another 20 years ago on the eighth hole at Awbrey Glen Golf Club. Nicolaisen said there are approximately 400 members at the Bend Golf Club, and they play approximately 26,000 rounds annually. Each year, there are between 20-30 holes-in-one.
“For Craig to get two of those on back-to-back days is really special. I asked him the other day how many he has in total. He’s had four. Three out of his four have come in the last two years, so they come in bunches, I guess, but not for me,” Nicolaisen said with a chuckle, adding that Biss’ astonishing double aces will be hard to top. The club’s next biggest golf feat was two years ago when three golfers each shot aces on the same day.
All Bend Golf Club members are automatically in the Hole-In-One Club and pay a small amount into it, unless they opt out. The HIOC then recognizes the impressive feat of an ace whenever a member makes one. The lucky golfer gets credits, courtesy of the HIOC, to spend in the pro shop, and all HIOC members get in on the celebration.
“We have a lot of good golfers here,” Nicolaisen said. “Whenever a hole-in-one is made, we have a red flag that we put out in front of the golf shop, so all of our members can see it. If you’re in the Hole-In-One Club, everyone gets a free drink that day. The members all flock up there once they see the red flag out.”
This article appears in the Source September 24, 2026.
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