Catching Up with the Queen of Aces, Jacqueline Gagne

Remember Jacqueline Gagne? She's the California woman who has made a slew of aces this year. I first wrote about her on May 4, at which time she was claiming 10 holes-in-one, all this year. I wrote about her again on June 2, by which time she was claiming another three, for 13 total.

Now, in early September, she's claiming three more aces, for 16 total this year. (Note that all along there have been repeated assurances that the aces were witnessed and well-documented.)

So, aside from the three additional aces, what's been going on Gagne's life since June? Well, she launched a Web site, hired a PR firm, was the subject of a Golf World article that implied she might be lying about the aces, appeared on the "Today Show" with Peter Kostis, signed endorsement deals with at least two companies, and ...

Whoa, whoa, back up: Golf World implied she might be lying? Well, insinuated might be a better word. It sounds more slithery.

But we'll save that for last. Let's take these things in order, because the Gagne story is going in odd directions.

So: Her Web site is at jacquelinegagne.com. Click the "Press" link and you'll see Gagne now has a PR rep, Eileen Koch Public Relations. And that company put out a press release declaring Gagne to be God, or at least a star child unconfined by time, space or dimension. Think I exaggerate? Here's what they say about Gagne in the opening paragraph of a release following her 16th ace:

Wow. Perhaps the Oracle of Jackie can tell me where I left my wallet.

On her Web site there's also a link to "Jacqueline's blog," although when you go there what you see isn't a blog, but rather a collection of press releases.

But we do learn that Gagne is now endorsing Q-Link and Cobra Golf and is identified as the "world record holder" and "an official sponsor of Cobra's clubs" (I always thought the company sponsored the golfer, not the other way around ...).

If you want to get a look at Gagne's swing, you can do so by watching the "Today Show" clip from back in July. Harry Smith and Peter Kostis went with Jackie to a club and hit balls. And Kostis seemed very impressed. "She's the real deal," he said, telling Smith that, after watching her, he is now a believer.

The video is at http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3087694n.

Now, what about that Golf World article? In the "Bunker" section of the Aug. 31 issue, an article details some personal strife going on in Gagne's life at the moment. You can read the article if you want to know what that is; I don't find it pertinent to the question of her aces, at least not as presented by Golf World.

But the whole brief article takes a skeptical tone toward Gagne, and includes this:

Italics mine. That's clearly implying - excuse me, insinuating - that Gagne's story isn't trustworthy, don't you think? Yet Golf World offers nothing more, no hints of what might be coming from Kindred on this count. Pretty good tease for its sister publication, Golf Digest.

Interestingly, earlier this year a local television crew was filming a story about Gagne when it caught on film one of her aces. Only it was a pseudo-ace - she was actually hitting 3 from the tee - and the cameraman didn't catch the ball dropping into the hole.

I checked the local paper, the Palm Springs Desert News, and there have been no stories about Gagne for a while. This newspaper did extensive reporting about Gagne's aces back in May and June, initially taking a skeptical tone - telling readers in a couple Editor's Notes that its staff was dubious, too, when the reports started coming in, and then kept coming in.

But the golf beat reported thoroughly investigated, talking to witnesses (presumably most of the same ones Kindred spoke with) and to golf course personnel. His articles back in May and June concluded that as hard as it was to believe, all the available evidence supported Gagne's claims.

An article written after her 14th ace included this defense from one of the golf pros who has had to try to verify many of the aces:

But apparently some are now saying, "I was there, and it happened, but I never saw the ball go in the hole."

So I'll remain officially agnostic while waiting for Kindred's article.