Kevin Massa, a former star athlete at Glenn, now a double ace on the links

Kevin Massa only started playing golf in 2017, so when he aced the 11th hole at the Willow Creek Country Club in Mount Sinai on July 24 it didn’t take him all that long to check off one of golf’s greatest achievements.

But then he did it again, and again at Willow Creek, this time on the fourth hole on Aug. 7. Now that’s some kind of accomplishment.

Massa, 28, is a financial adviser who lives in Brooklyn. He grew up on Long Island, where he was an all-around athlete, and quite an accomplished one, in football, wrestling and lacrosse for Glenn High School. He was all-county in each sport by the time he graduated in 2011.

He went on to play lacrosse for Division I Bryant University in Rhode Island, where he achieved All-American status three times and graduated in 2015. Looking for a new sport, he took up golf, and while he hasn’t achieved the accolades of his team-sport youth, two aces in a two-week period elevate him to all-good-luck status.

"Golf is a different game than anything. It’s a much more humbling game," Massa said. "But it’s very rewarding and a lot of fun. I’m pretty addicted right now."

His first ace on the 165-yard 11th hole was with an 8-iron. He was playing with Nick Alibrandi, Brett Garcia and Matt Heldberg. His second on the fourth was at 135 yards with a pitching wedge, playing with his brother Ken, T.J. Tiernan and Heldberg. He shot rounds of 84 and 83 and carries a handicap of 10.5.

For the first one, "I didn’t see it go in," Massa said. "We just sort of saw it rolling toward the hole, there was a little bit of a shadow there. One of my buddies [Alibrandi] said, 'I think that went in.' He drove up and ran up to the hole and started smiling and grabbed it. It was pretty awesome. We all started celebrating."

For the second one, "It landed on the top tier and rolled back to the hole. We heard it click on the pin, but we were all like, ‘There’s no way I had another one.’ Walked up to the hole and there it was."

Massa, who was playing in his regular group’s 6:30 a.m. tee time on Saturday, plans to join the club for next season. As for his brother Ken, who was filling in the foursome on Aug. 7, there is a bit of a caveat to the second ace.

"As we were pulling up to play my brother says, 'If anyone makes a hole in one today I’m joining the club next year,' " Massa said. "A few holes later he’s got to live up to that now."