This Kid Knows How to Put Ball in the Hole

If you are a golfer still seeking that elusive hole in one after years of trying, you probably aren’t going to enjoy the story of Mattias Herrstrom.

Herrstrom, a 12-year-old Swedish boy, swung himself into history when he made two holes in one in the same round.

Herrstrom’s aces came during a peewee competition Wednesday on the Osterlen golf course, a seaside links in southern Sweden.

A 31-handicapper who started playing seriously last fall, Herrstrom scored his first ace in a strong tailwind on the 309-yard 10th, a par four.

His next was more conventional, on the 160-yard 13th hole.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, these weren’t the first holes in one in the past month for Herrstrom, who had his first ace on the same course June 10.

Dead heat: Devilish Fella, a harness racing horse bought for $8,000 in a claiming race, turned out to be a dead loss.

Jacques Lefebvre bought the horse shortly before the race. It finished fourth, returned to the paddock and died 20 minutes later. Lefebvre stopped payment on the check, but a judge in Montreal ruled against him, pointing out that a buyer becomes the owner 30 minutes before the race.

Trivia time: Who was the first designated hitter?

Sounds logical: Janice Carbone of Mission Viejo told Golf Illustrated about the time her parents moved to a retirement community that had a private golf course. They signed up for lessons, and the instructor told them to start at the driving range. He said they could buy buckets of balls in three sizes--small, medium or large.

“That’s great,” her mother said. “I think I’ll start out with the largest size. They’ll be so much easier to hit.”

But is it fun?: Bungee jumping, that freakish sport in which thrill-seekers leap from a height of 12 stories or so with only a stretch-rope between the jumper and disaster, has been approved by the Lake Elsinore City Council.

“At one time or another, most of us would like to experience that ‘walk on the edge,’ while knowing that we really won’t fall off--that’s what bungee jumping is all about,” said Rich Schurfeld, a bungee spokesman.

The only restriction: Pregnant women are not eligible to jump.

Let’s play two: Jim Thorpe, after shooting a tournament-record five-under-par 30 on the back nine at the Tournament Players Club in Memphis, Tenn., was asked how he felt.

“When I get going like that, I’d like to go nine more holes,” he said.

Dennis Trixler, on the other hand, after losing in a sudden-death playoff, said: “It feels like someone ran over my dog.”

Semantics: Ed Pinckney of the Boston Celtics says Michael Jordan isn’t necessarily the best jumper in the NBA, but “he is the best floater.”

Trivia answer: Ron Blomberg, New York Yankees, on April 6, 1973.

White bricks II: Those white bricks from old Comiskey Park in Chicago, going for $12.95 each (not $12.50 as reported earlier) are available from the White Sox Souvenir Shop. If you want them shipped, it’s another $5.

Quotebook: Sports car driver Price Cobb, after injuring his shoulder when he fell off a mountain bike: “I’ve learned one thing--don’t ride any bike that doesn’t have a motor on it.”