Businessman Manny Menendez is believed to be the first to ace two holes in same round since Waialae Country Club opened in 1927

Over decades working in China, Manny Menendez adopted an affinity for the number eight.

So it was fitting that eights, considered lucky in Chinese culture, figured prominently in a casual round of golf at Waialae Country Club that turned historic in early March.

The private course, home to the Sony Open in Hawaii, has seen its share of holes-in-one over 94 years of operation.

But two in one round? Now that’s more than a stroke (or two) of good fortune.

Menendez filled in with his father-in-law’s regular group on March 6 and rode the breeze to ace Waialae’s beach-side par-3 eighth hole. Eight holes later, he took out (what else?) an 8-iron, and his group could only marvel when his shot hopped into the cup for his second hole-in-one of the round.

“It was hole eight and 16 is double eight,” Menendez said in recounting his astounding day at the course. “So the eights were working.”

An entrepreneur and businessman in the Asia-Pacific region for more than three decades and a member of former Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris’ cabinet, Menendez spends much of his time these days in China working on clean energy and pollution reduction technologies.

He previously served as the City and County of Honolulu’s executive director of the Office of Economic Development under the Harris administration from 2001 to 2004 and was involved in the advent of Sunset on the Beach and development of the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park during his tenure.

He was a full-time Hawaii resident up until about four years ago and scheduled a trip to Oahu to visit his son, grandchildren and in-laws in early March.

Golf wasn’t on the itinerary until his father-in-law, Robert Yung, feeling a bit under the weather, suggested Menendez take his regular tee time at Waialae as a guest.

So he borrowed his father-in-law’s clubs and headed out with playing partners Ray Burghardt and Al Wong.

When they got to No. 8, Menendez decided to choke down on a 7-hybrid and while his shot tracked toward the pin, he thought the wind caught it and sent it off the back of the green.

“When I hit it I said to Ray, it was at the stick but I think it went way too far,” Menendez said.

“(Burghardt) drove me up there and dropped me off behind the green. We’re looking and looking and I said it couldn’t have gone all the way over the other green.”

As Menendez continued his search, Burghardt went up to the green to finish out the hole and shouted out a startling discovery.

“As I was putting out, I said, ‘Here it is. I found your ball,’” Burghardt said, “There are now two balls in the hole.”

At that point, Menendez was already on the hook to pick up the tab for drinks after the round and would soon be in the market for a new pair of shoes when one of the soles separated a few holes later. With his shoe held together with elastic bands and tape, Menendez came up to No. 16 and watched his shot bounce on the green and disappear.

“I said, ‘I think it went in,’” Menendez said. “They said, ‘No really?’ ”

Menendez and Wong drove up to the green and sure enough, the ball was again in the cup.

“That left us speechless,” said Burghardt, a retired career diplomat and former ambassador to Vietnam.

“I think a lot of people find it hard to believe. People even said, ‘are you sure he didn’t drop the ball in the hole as he walked past it?’” Burghardt added. “No, I’m very sure. There were only three of us and everyone saw what everybody else did and he’s not that kind of guy.”

Kevin Carll, the head pro at Waialae, verified the feat with Menendez’s playing partners and sent him a congratulatory message.

“Like anyone, I was in shock,” Carll said. “It’s trying to comprehend the fact that someone made two hole-in-ones on the same day. It’s pretty impressive.”

Menendez estimates he only plays about a dozen times in a year and could recall three previous holes-in-one, already a remarkable number before accomplishing a feat noted by the National Hole-In-One Registry as a 67 million-to-1 shot. According a 2018 article posted on pga.com, three players have recorded two holes-in-one in the same round in a PGA Tour event, most recently Brian Harman in 2015 at The Barclays.

“He’s an unusual player because he doesn’t play very often but he plays very well,” Burghardt said. “His explanation is he’s quite a serious baseball player, so he is very athletic and has good body movements.”

The power of 8 might help as well.

“It’s good to be an OK golfer,” Menendez said. “But I’ll take luck any time.”