Austin’s Bill Nelson and Don Bulson have 81 years of golfing experience between them, and in all that time, neither had hit a hole-in-one prior to July 4 of this year.

By July 5, they both did.

The two long-time golfing partners both aced the Par-3, 128-yard No. 10 Hole at River Oaks Golf Course in Austin.

Nelson’s came on July 4; Bulson’s came a day later.

Both used a pitching wedge.

Both were riding in the same cart both days.

Both were shaking on the No. 11 Hole after their hole-in-one.

“That’s got to be an oddity,” said Steve Bartholomew, River Oaks club manager. “The odds of having a hole-in-one have to be a million to one or dang near. To have both of them hit a hole-in-one and see each other do it, riding in the same cart both days is super rare.”

Both Nelson and Bulson graduated from Austin High School, Bulson in 1962, Nelson in 1964. The two golf together in the same cluster of about a dozen golfers several times a week, while Nelson golfs a little more than that.

Nelson, 63, is retired, has a golf handicap of 17, and was a sheet metal worker by trade. He said he took up golf 37 years ago when he was invited to play one night and did so on a borrowed set of clubs.

“I hit one good shot out of the nine holes that night and got hooked,” he said.

Nelson hasn’t stopped yet and said he plays for the fresh air, for the exercise of getting on and off the cart and because it gets him away from his wife for awhile, who he’s been married to for 42 years.

“She can do her thing, and it gets me out of her hair for awhile, and we both have a good time that way,” he said. “The only thing she doesn’t like is when I buy some new golf clubs and new balls and then she gets a little upset. I’ve got enough balls to probably last me three lifetimes, but I’m always looking for new ones.”

The ball Nelson used to land his ace was a Bridgestone e6.

When he hit the shot, he knew it was going to be close, but he’d been close before.

Nelson once had a ball land in the cup on his first swing before it bounced out.

“You can’t count that because it didn’t stay in the hole,” he said.

But his ball on July 4 did.

“When it hit the green, and it was tracking toward the flag, I thought it was going to be close,” Nelson said. “And all of a sudden, it disappeared.”

The next day Bulson did basically the same thing.

A former Hormel worker who’s now semi-retired, Bulson, 65, has an 18 handicap and said he took up golf when he was 21.

As with Nelson, Bulson had never hit an ace and seemed assured that he’d go through life never hitting a hole-in-one.

“As long as I’ve been golfing, it’s probably one of the best feelings I’ve had,” he said about his ace he made with a Callaway No. 2 ball.

While both Bulson and Nelson used a pitching wedge on their hole-in-ones, their balls found the hole in different ways.

Nelson’s ball rolled into the cup, while Bulson’s bounced first.

“His hit the green and rolled,” Bulson said.

“Mine went ‘boing,’ ‘boing’ and bounced in.”

The two golfers haven’t had a hole-in-one in the weeks since, but they don’t seem to mind much.

“Someone told me that I was going to get another one soon,” Nelson said. “I said it took me 37 years to get the first one — I’ll be long dead.”

Bulson had similar thoughts.

“It was a great feeling,” he said. “I can go see the big guy upstairs in peace now.”