Photo Credit: Florida Trend Phil Esposito is one of the greatest goal scorers in the history of the National Hockey League, but the Hall of Famer is also a good golfer. Proof of that is that he has recorded three aces. Esposito, who won the Stanley Cup twice with the Boston Bruins and sits sixth overall in the NHL all-time goal scoring with 717, recorded the third hole-in-one of his life in May on a 135-yard, par-three hole at Fox Hollow Golf in Trinity, Florida. The course is owned by Dave Creighton, father of former NHL player Adam Creighton, and is about 35 minutes north of where Esposito lives in Tampa Bay. Among his many accomplishments, Esposito helped to start up the Tampa Bay Lightning NHL franchise in 1992.

Image Credit: Bryan Bros Instagram If there’s one thing that Wesley Bryan has learned it’s that golf can be fun if golfers can allow themselves to break away from the norm and get wild and crazy. While it was interesting watching Bryan record his first PGA victory with a win in the 2017 RBC Heritage, I found it more appealing learning about the trick shots he has done with his brother George.

Jason and his mom, Dening. Image Credit: ABC Sometimes the game of golf is more than just wins and losses. It’s about people, and at the professional level it is sometimes easy to forget the players are chasing glory but they are subject to every day experiences that test their resolve beyond just their ability. A good example of that happened last week at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play when defending champion Jason Day withdrew during his match and indicated in a teary-eyed media conference that his mother Dening is battling lung cancer. He said she was diagnosed in January, 2017 and given only a year to live.

There are many ways to become interested in golf and turn it into a career, either playing or teaching. In the case of Paulin Vaillancourt, he accomplished both and can lay claim to coaching a current top-10 LPGA player, Brooke Henderson, and her sister/caddie, Brittany.

Image Credit: CBC Gary Leeman is among a select few players in the National Hockey League to score 50 goals in a season, but he also happens to be a good golfer. I caught up with Gary at a Toronto Maple Leafs alumni game to talk about hockey and golf. Gary surpassed the coveted 50-goal plateau for the Leafs in 1989-90, and later became part of a 10-player trade, the biggest one in National Hockey League history, and also had the good fortune of winning a Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1992-94.

Image Credit: Nain News So what did you think of Tiger Woods’ return to competitive golf? For someone who hadn’t played in 44 days, he didn’t do too badly, in my opinion, in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas last week to support his foundation.

For many years, Canada has been waiting for the next Mike Weir, who won the Masters back in 2003 and became one of the top players in the world for a few years until injuries took their toll. Some such as David Hearn, Graham DeLaet, Nick Taylor, Brad Fritsch and Adam Hadwin have come forward to make their presences felt as the next great Canadian on the PGA Tour, while amateur Jared du Toit had a good run in the 2016 Canadian Open, but none have been able to capture the imagination and optimism of rookie Mackenzie Hughes.

It is often said that Thanksgiving is a time for, well, giving thanks. With all the stress and negativity that life can throw at you during the year, it’s always nice to take some time to remember all of the great things that life provides. Luckily as golfers, we have a lot to be thankful for. That’s why we here at LostGolfBalls.com wanted to put together a list of all the things we are thankful for in the world of golf.

The other day a friend whom I had not heard from in a long time called me up and asked if I had time to go golfing with him. Immediately, I said yes. Golf is the type of activity that allows you to get away from things for a few hours, and in this case it was a chance to do something I hadn’t done with this individual in a long time.