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November 25, 2019 - 9:00 am EST 5 years ago

Ogilvy Dunks Walk-Off Ace To Win Charity Match

Chris Chaney Chris Chaney

Every hole-in-one is special, but the one Geoff Ogilvy dunked on Saturday at The Wishbone Brawl, a charity event that benefitted the Northern California Junior Golf Association and the Geoff Ogilvy Foundation, is one of the coolest you’ll see for a while given the setting and the stakes.

The annual Wishbone Brawl is a multi-day event headlined by a two-on-two match that this year pitted Ogilvy and former Tour winner Chris Riley against current World No. 9 Xander Schauffele and former Tour pro Dean Wilson.

Considering Schauffele is one of the best players in the world, he and Wilson were considered the favorites in the match play format, but they didn’t lead all day at Goat Hill Park, a public municipal course in Oceanside, California, and needed to win the 18th hole to force a playoff. 


With a crowd of hundreds watching, the foursome headed to the downhill par-3 9th hole, which features an amphitheater of sorts around the green. With Wilson in the middle of the green and Schauffele spinning back off the front, Ogilvy stepped to the 132-yard tee and did the unthinkable.

 
 
 
 
 
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As pure as it gets. Pros, persimmons, mini muny, no ropes, more kids than adults, there were even puppies charging greens, all for charity and the good of the game. Today makes me believe in unicorns, guardian angels and Golf Gods. The Goat gives back in magical ways. There are countless tales of the unexpected. @katie.ginella and I had our wedding reception here, which was a good party. And then there was today. Chris Riley and Geoff Ogilvy vs. Dean Wilson and Xander Schauffele in the third annual Wishbone Brawl at Goat Hill Park in Oceanside, Calif. With Wilson and Xander as heavy favorites, it was Riley early who did most of his talking with his putter. Which is saying something. Wilson and Schauffele didn’t have the lead all day. It was all they could do to get even. Which they did on 7, 13 and 18. Which meant there was a playoff. Everyone scrambled to the 9th green, which is a golf coliseum. John Ashworth was proud of the new mulch around the back of the green. The putting surface was littered with long shadows. Wilson went first, middle of the green. Xander was tight, until it spun off the front, down the slope. “Goated!” And then Ogilvy grabbed wedge. From 132. He had hit full wedge over the green earlier. He would dial it back. And he dialed it IN. Swish. As you can see, off the lip. Pandemonium. And the forever question: “Where were you when?” It just doesn’t get any better than what just transpired. Set aside the adults for a second, there were hundreds of kids who walked away reflecting on a day in which they got prioritized, up front, in the mix of all the fun. It wasn’t long, it wasn’t slow, it wasn’t expensive, it wasn’t about the money. It was about giving back, paying it forward, and a can’t-write-that-script finish. “Ogilvy is back!” Was one spectator’s observation. “Chris Riley is still one of the best putters in the world,” was Ogilvy’s first humble retort. But when pressed for more… “It’s crazy! How do you make that up?!” You don’t. You just go to www.wishbonebrawl.com and click on “online auction.” And now we celebrate. Ogilvy is buying! (Video courtesy of @foredagolf & @jbarto22)

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Golf Channel’s Matt Ginella was on hand to host a clinic on the range prior to the match, and he was able to aggregate some of the incredible video that surfaced from the event. 

“As pure as it gets,” Ginella captioned the video of the ball going in. “Pros, persimmons, mini muni, no ropes, more kids than adults, there were even puppies charging greens, all for charity and the good of the game.”

 
 
 
 
 
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Meanwhile, at the green! ?

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According to Ginella, the ace was the ninth of Ogilvy’s life, and it was more than enough to end the Wishbone Brawl.

“Chris Riley is still one of the best putters in the world,” Ogilvy said after the scene settled down. “It’s crazy! How do you make that up?!” 

LinkSoul, the presenting sponsor of the event, also aggregated some of the video from around the 9th green.

To learn more about The Wishbone Brawl, check out their website here.