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Steamboat Springs — There was no doubt Nelson Smith's four-person scramble team was going to take his shot on No. 8 at Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club on Friday.

Playing in a tournament put on by the Metals Service Center Institute, which was holding meetings at the Sheraton Steamboat Resort, Smith carded the second hole-in-one of his career.

The first came in 1994 on a course in Oklahoma.

"It was phenomenal," Smith said. "An absolutely great setting with some good friends."

Smith, whose team started on No. 18 and were at 7-under-par when they approached the No. 8 tee box, said he was in between clubs on the 163-yard hole.

All three of his playing partners had hit, with one player putting a ball in the water. Smith said they were debating whether the shot was an 8 or 9 iron.

"I wanted to hit a 9 iron," said Smith, who works in the steel business in Kansas City.

Smith said the ball felt good when he hit it.

He said it hit six or eight feet behind the hole, jumped back and disappeared.

"All four of us started yelling," he said.

In addition to carding his second ace, Smith easily won the closest-to-hole competition, taking home a brand new wedge.

Smith said after he got his first hole-in-one 14 years ago, he wasn't sure he'd ever get another one.

He hadn't really been that close and it really hadn't crossed his mind that he'd get another one, he said.

While skill certainly plays a part, Smith said when it comes down to it, a hole-in-one is more than likely left up to fate.

"You need to be lucky," Smith said. "I don't know. Find a four-leaf clover or something. The pros make them sometimes and you have to get the ball around the hole, but mostly it's luck."

- To reach Luke Graham, call 871-4229 or e-mail lgraham@steamboatpilot.com