Golf Digest Destroys Jacqueline Gagne's Hole-In-One Claims

by Mulligan Stu on Oct 3, 2007 11:00 PM EDT Comment 11 comments

(Update: The Golf Digest article is now online.)

About a month ago I referenced a Golf World brief that teased to a coming Dave Kindred column in Golf Digest. The tease was the first sign of trouble with Jacqueline Gagne's claims of multiple aces.

Gagne, recall, is the California woman who claims to have made 16 aces this year. She also claims, I wrote a couple weeks ago, to have set two course records this year, include one round of 61. To me, that claim of a 61 is even harder to believe than the claim of 16 aces, and served as a major red flag.

The Dave Kindred pieced teased a month ago is now in print, in the November issue of Golf Digest. And while Kindred doesn't find a smoking gun - nobody claimed to Kindred that they caught Gagne faking a hole-in-one, and Kindred was careful to point out that Gagne has supporters - his careful research destroys Gagne's credibility.

A chart printed along with Kindred's article tells part of the tale. For the 16 claimed aces, Kindred was unable to find a single person who actually saw Gagne's ball drop into the hole. In multiple cases, witnesses claimed they didn't even see the ball hit the green.

Rather, everyone in Gagne's group would be searching in the rough beside the green, in bushes behind the green, in sand traps next to the green, near trees away from the green, where they thought the ball had landed in any given case, only to discover, minutes later, Gagne's ball in the cup.

In several cases, Kindred discovered, witnesses disputed Gagne's account. In two cases, Gagne claimed to make aces at a golf course that has no record of her (or her alleged witnesses) ever having been there.

Kindred reports that Gagne's claimed 16 aces came in as few as 118 rounds, or an average of one ace every 30 swings on a par-3.

The pro at one course where Gagne claimed a hole-in-one says there was no ace on the scorecard she originally turned in, then took back.

The oddity of Gagne's claims is displayed in this tale passed on by Kindred:

Club member Anna Pinto, playing with Gagne in a threesome, said Gagne hit before the other pair reached the tee for the day's last par-3. Gagne told them, "It went in." Oddly, for someone who just holed a tee shot, Gagne hit a second, played it out and signed for a bogey. At the hole she bent as if to pluck her first from the hole, but Pinto says she never saw a ball in Gagne's hand.

Other revelations:

Gagne was DQ'd from a club tournament after originally failing to turn in a scorecard, then turning in one late with scores lower than other players in the tournament remembered her making.
She claimed to have worked for Microsoft in a management position in Boston, but Microsoft has no record of her alleged employment.

As for the alleged record round of 61? Kindred reports:

The Eagle Falls pro, Robb Mihelic, doubts it: "We had just punched the greens, and I couldn't make a 10-foot putt that day. But she came right into the shop and said she'd shot 61."

...

But when another player and an Eagle Falls employee reported seeing her make higher scores than she reported, the pro decided he would not legitimize the round. "I didn't post the 61."

As I said, it's a report that is devastating for Gagne's claims. Even though Kindred does include comments from some who still support Gagne. Including (at least before this article hit the presses) Peter Kostis, who took part in an appearance by Gagne on "The Today Show" and came away impressed.

Kostis probably went into that appearance feeling that Gagne's claims had been verified by the local newspaper, whose golf beat reporter told Kindred that he still believes nine of the aces really happened, but declined to vouch for the other seven. Kindred's reporting should put that local newspaper to shame (the reporter in question failed to respond to my own questions about Gagne last month).

Kindred also brings up the video that purports to show Gagne sinking a tee shot on camera. New details about how that was filmed call it into question; however, the local TV news cameraman who shot the video claims that when the frames are blown up, it is possible to see what appears to be a golf ball dropping into a cup.

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amazing

Back when this "story" hit the airwaves, we mentioned it on a local radio golf show. After about 30 seconds, we decided that it was not a story until there was some actual proof (perhaps a large bar tab for drinks bought after a hole in one).

Unfortunately, the rest of the media decided it was better to run with an unsubstantiated story, then run her into the ground if and when it was proven wrong.

Now, we find out that this lady was just in need of some serious attention, but went about it in the wrong way. She will be humiliated around the world and who knows what will happen after that.

Unfortunately, the media will not suffer any sort of shame from their lack of due diligence while reporting an obviously hard to believe story.

These stories used to be relegated to some down the ladder reporter and put in some "News of the Weird" column in the back section of the paper - now they are broadcast around the world in seconds.

Is this woman a victim ? No. She may be a sad, lonely, and possibly abused woman who needed attention - but she did not see the media train coming while she tied herself to the tracks.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Oct 4, 2007 11:09 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It's not that the media ...

instantly broadcast the story. It's that when they did, they got it wrong. The Palm Springs paper didn't write about it until she'd reached 9 alleged aces, if I remember correctly. And then they were cautious, running a story accompanied by an editor's note explaining the research they did and how they were all skeptical. And then they concluded that she was

by Mulligan Stu on Oct 4, 2007 11:38 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

it wasn't left as a local story...

...it was picked up by web sites, TV, radio, internet, magazines, etc. The Palm Springs paper had 9 alleged aces to investigate and didn't bother to do the work necessary to confirm such a wild claim.

By the way - did I mention that Ben Hogan's ghost gave me a lesson at the range the other day ? :-D

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Oct 4, 2007 12:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

d'oh

Looks like my comment above got cut off before I finished what I was trying to say. Which is that the Palm Springs paper wrote what APPEARED to be a very thorough investigation of the claims, that included many alleged witnesses vouching for Gagne, but also multiple golf course professionals claiming they, too, had investigated. And at that time everything appeared to support Gagne. Which I why I said in the post that Kindred's reporting should put that paper to shame - he obviously was able to ferret out information that they were either unable to find, or unwilling to report.

But I think people like Peter Kostis, and probably many other media outlets, looked at that original Palm Springs reporting and thought the same thing I did at the time: "This looks like a well-researched piece, and as crazy as it sounds, it seems like she's telling the truth ..."

So I'm glad Kindred came along and dug into this.

But even if the local media did a lousy job investigating this - and they did - and even if too many other media outlets reported the claims uncritically - and they did - the villain is the the person doing the hoaxing, not the people who got hoaxed. Some of the hoaxed in this case, particularly the Palm Springs paper, deserve plenty of criticism. But Gagne deserves a lot more.

by Mulligan Stu on Oct 4, 2007 1:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

one more thing

I'll just add that I think the one thing this story illustrates about the way the mainstream media works is that they are too often willing to pass along uncritically (as you originally said, court) something that's already been reported by another media outlet.

Most of the time that's not a big deal. Most things reported in the media are quite mundane and clear-cut.

But Gagne's claims were always extraordinary. As Carl Sagan used to say, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

by Mulligan Stu on Oct 4, 2007 1:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

well said

you're entirely correct - though it's a shame that we can't depend on a media that insists on touting itself as the guardian of all that is "good" and democrat (no - not democratic) can't be depended on to be thorough in a story like this. gullibility is not supposed to be an earmark of the media.

that said - I THOUGHT your earlier post got cut off - you know - if they get the bugs worked out - this intra-web thing just might catch on !

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Oct 4, 2007 5:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Getting facts straight

Oh Mr. Kindred I was very disturbed at your article about Ms. Gagne. Just let's get some things straight that you seemed to miss in your article.
1. Ms. Gagne never looked for media attention, they came to her. She was encouraged to give interviews after her 6th or 8th hole in one by one of the golf pros. It got so wild she had to hire a PR person.
2. You seemed to have left out of the article why you decided to write another story about Ms. Gagne. Wasn't it because an angry friend of Ms. Gagne's who rode on her coat tails enjoying her celebrity, getting free gifts and trips called you to trash her record after their friendship came to an end. You ran with this story because of that call. You also seemed to forget to interview many of the people who have been with Ms. Gagne on many occasions when she got her hole in one. Another thing Mr. Kindred all these hole in one's were in front of people, different people so I guess you think they all got in a room and decided to lie.

3. I take it you don't play golf. When you are in a tournament there are spotters so if you get a hole in one it can be verified. I guess you don't think that they had any spotters at any of the tournaments Ms. Gagne was in. The next thing I was expecting you to say in your article was that she wasn't even on the course.

I guess after reading this my first impression was a jealous man writing an article, also I guess by writing this Mr. Kindred you give no other reporter, magazine or TV show any credit to their findings about Ms. Gagne, which were all verified. So I guess we just need to believe you and this terrible story that you wrote. I hope you have a great career in the writing business because after reading this I'm not sure anyone will want to sit down with you to tell their story, heck it might be turned into a negative a few months later.

by martha33 on Oct 5, 2007 2:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

a small defense of Dave Kindred

Martha -

Dave Kindred is indeed a long time golfer and golf writer. He was the golf writer for the Atlanta Journal and Constitution (granted, if you know this paper, that is not always a bright spot on a resume) before moving to magazines and national publications.

I can assure you that he knows that many tournaments have spotters on par 3's. Not all tournaments have prizes on par 3's and do not have spotters.

Kindred did not write the initial story on Ms Gagne. This was a local story that caught national attention with what is still a very dubious claim.

The media was not going door to door looking for stories. Either Ms Gagne took the story to the media, or someone heard the story and it made its way to someone in the press.

The whole point is that there ARE no witnesses to most of these claimed hole in ones. People in her groups do not back the claim and even dispute the shots. When one or more claims from a person are claimed or proven to be not true, then the rest of the same claims come into question.

(geez - now look what you've done, you're making me defend the media)

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Oct 5, 2007 3:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Gagne

Martha, have you seen her swing??? It's a bad swing and to claim she shot a course record 61, is absolutely ludicrist,then it calls in to question all the holes in one..Being from her home course, I'm embarassed.

by parfore98 on Oct 20, 2007 8:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm a little late to this, but...

...any of you ever read Rick Reilly's fictional golf book Missing Links? One of the characters wins a tournament prize for making a hole in one by overclubbing and hitting the ball far over the green and out of sight. His accomplice however, playing in the group in front of him, had already deposited one of his buddies' marked golf balls in the cup before he left the green. Voila, hole in one.

Holes with an elevated green or cup obscured by swales make for the perfect setting to pull off this trick, since of course nobody has seen her shots actually go in the hole. Perhaps Miss Gagne is familiar with Mr. Reilly's work. If her saga ever merits a follow-up story, it might pay off to investigate who has been playing in the group in front of her.

by squints on Oct 10, 2007 7:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Jackie Gagne story

Just a couple quick thoughts. Peter Kostis has a vision problem He said Jackie had a very good swing. I'm a member at Mission Hills Country Club, where she "made her holes in one" and I've watched that swing. It's terrible!!!! And to say that she reads the greens from 150 yd. She has no clue. But to say she shot a 61 at Eagle Falls is pure bull and if she'll lie there, she'll lie about the hole in ones.
We are a tad embarrased to say the least.

by parfore98 on Oct 20, 2007 7:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs