Three hole-in-ones in days astonish Rio Communities golf club

Three holes-in-one in a matter of days turned a routine spring stretch at Tierra Del Sol Golf Club into the kind of local sports oddity that Rio Communities does not see often. Rex Lewis of Pueblitos, James Silva and Darius Jaramillo each found the cup on separate rounds in May, giving the 18-hole course a burst of attention built on equal parts skill, timing and luck.

The sequence carried extra local color because each player arrived with a different story. Lewis made his first ace only months after surviving a skydiving accident. Silva was described as having one of the smoothest swings around, a reputation that fits the kind of repeat play Tierra Del Sol draws. Jaramillo, meanwhile, was playing his first round since getting married, which gave the streak a distinctly community feel rather than the flavor of a one-off novelty.

That matters in Rio Communities because Tierra Del Sol has long been more than a place to play 18 holes. The course became operational in 1968, with Horizon Corporation as its first owner, and it has remained a recurring venue for local golf activity for decades. Coverage over the years has tied it to Women’s Golf Association events, junior golf camps and area tournament play, underscoring its role as one of Valencia County’s more active recreation sites.

The timing also helps explain why the aces drew notice. The PGA says an amateur’s odds of making a hole-in-one are about 1 in 12,000, which makes three in a short span a statistical outlier even on a course that sees steady play. A previous ace at Tierra Del Sol this month added to the sense that the place occasionally catches a hot hand: Eric Anaya of Rio Communities made a hole-in-one on Saturday, June 1, while playing the par-3, 160-yard seventh hole with his wife, Naomi.

Tierra Del Sol’s setting adds to its appeal. The course sits in Rio Communities near the Rio Grande, with views of the Manzano Mountains that help make it a destination for regulars and visitors alike. That scenery, combined with a steady calendar of women’s play, camps and local competition, has made the club a durable part of the county’s recreational fabric.

For Valencia County, the rare run of aces offered more than a sports curiosity. It put a longtime local institution in the spotlight as a place where neighbors gather, rounds are repeated and memorable moments can still arrive all at once.