Sandy Moonert of Cary had just started playing on the recently-opened Lonnie Poole Golf Course (LPGC) on N.C. State’s Centennial Campus on June 29 when she knocked in the course’s first-ever hole-in-one.

Moonert is a long-time member of Cary’s Prestonwood Country Club and an LPGC Charter Partner. She was playing in the third group on the first day the course was open for Charter Partners to play.

The course was so new, in fact, that only nine holes were open for play.

With members of the previous group standing around the green, Moonert hit her 9-iron from the 115-yard gray tees. The shot was a little left of the pin, but it rolled down the sloping green and right into the hole.

“It was really cool, a chance to do something that no one had ever done before,” said Moonert to gopack.com. “It’s something that no one can ever take away or ever top.”

On top of acheiving an ace — a personal first — Moonert caught even more good fortune when returning to the clubhouse.

At the time, the LPGC wasn’t open to the public and had yet to get a liquor license, so instead of buying rounds of more expensive alcholic drinks for a packed clubhouse — as is customary for golfers who notch aces — Moonert only had a few soft drinks to offer to a handful of patrons.

“I offered everyone there a soft drink, but there weren’t a lot of takers,” Moonert said, laughing. “I guess that was the second fortuitous thing that happened to me Saturday.”

Cary Academy alum particpates in Maccabi Games

Alex Berger, Cary resident and a member of the N.C. State women’s soccer team, represented the United States in the 2009 Maccabi Games in Israel this summer.

The Maccabi Games are the World Jewish Games and are the third largest sporting competition in the world after the Olympics and the Asian Games.

This year’s games were held from July 12-23 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The USA women’s soccer team is comprised of college graduates and current collegiate players from around the United States and were the Silver Medalists in the 2005 Games. Alex, graduate of Cary Academy, was the only N.C. resident selected to the team.