Two aces and a new outlook

Bryce Alderton

Little did Sam Khamneian know he had two aces tucked away in his golf

swing that magically escaped in the span of 18 holes along with

another card that renewed his lease on life.

The 47-year-old Costa Mesa resident tallied two holes-in-one in

one round at the Monarch Beach Golf Links in Dana Point Dec. 21, a

day before he got even better news.

On Dec. 22 Khamneian, a hotel operator, received word that he had

been misdiagnosed with leukemia by a physician when blood work came

back negative. (Khamneian plans to take legal action.)

“Put yourself in my shoes,” Khamneian said. “I have four daughters

and a wife who are the top priority. What if I had five hole-in-ones,

but the next day someone told you [that] you only have 30 days to

live. I prefer to take the life instead of the hole-in-one. Seeing my

kids grow is much better.

“I was happy, but it wasn’t like I was running giving everyone a

high-five. It still hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Khamneian, who has an 8-handicap, used a 3-wood on the 217-yard,

par-3 fifth hole for his first ace. He initially turned his head away

when the club struck the ball, thinking he had mis-hit it. But when

his playing partners began raising their voices saying the ball had a

chance to go in, Khamneian looked up and the ball had rolled in the

cup.

“I was just trying to put the ball into play,” he said. “The wind

was in my face.”

The thrill didn’t end at the fifth.

Khamneian, who has been golfing for 2 1/2 years, used an 8-iron at

the 155-yard, par-3 13th and again, the ball rolled softly into the

hole. Water surrounded the island green.

“It landed four feet away from the hole and just went in,”

Khamneian said. “The minute it went in people called the marshal.

They came down and pulled the flags to give me.”

Khamneian treated the tournament as if it was his last, swinging

in a relaxed state. He said he swung at 80%.

“I told my partner I was not going to care about my score because

this might be my last tournament,” Khamneian said.

Khamneian, whose best round is a 73 at Costa Mesa Golf & Country

Club, said a United States Golf Association representative told him

the odds of getting two holes-in-one- during one round were 72

billion-to-one.

“The USGA said there was a lady who did it in 1977, but it was not

during an official tournament. It was done as friendly game,”

Khamneian said.

“Luck is part of it, trust me,” Khamneian said. “I’m not Tiger

Woods. It happened to be my day. God was sending me a message.”

Khamneian migrated to the United States more than 25 years ago

from Iran, where he grew up playing soccer.

In addition to Costa Mesa, he has played Oak Creek and Strawberry

Farms golf clubs in Irvine and credits his improvement to Mike

Dorthey, a coach he meets with once a week. He usually plays twice a

week, but practices five days in that same span.

“Golf is the kind of game that if you let it drop for a few

[weeks], your swing goes off,” Khamneian said. “Luck has a lot to do

with it. Everything has to work in your favor.”

Raising four daughters and managing a marriage keep Khamneian

busy, but he hopes to play more golf in the next three years to make

a run at either amateur or professional tournaments.

“Until [October 2001], I had never picked up a club,” Khamneian

said. “So when I started hitting balls it was a difficult task for

two to three months while I learned the ins and outs.”

Khamneian, a 1982 graduate of Long Beach State with a film studies

degree, can speak four languages -- Armenian, English, Persian and

Turkish -- and played professional soccer in Europe.

Woods inspired him to try golf and he is glad he did.

“Golf was a good passion for me to find,” Khamneian said. “You are

playing against yourself and you can’t blame anybody. Golf came more

peacefully for me.”