THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: April 16, 2014

Once is luck.

Twice is skill.

But hitting a hole-in-one on consecutive days, in the same family, is nothing short of amazing.

LAKELAND HIGH senior Hayden Nosworthy started the trend last Thursday at The Highlands Golf Course in Post Falls.

During a practice round for the Post Falls Invitational, Hayden aced the 155-yard par-3 14th hole with an 8-iron.

"When I hit it, it was going right at the pin," Hayden said. "It was kind of sunny and I couldn't see the pin."

Hayden was practicing with his Lakeland teammates Derek Bayley, Andrew Knight and Preston Roth. Mike Bayley, Derek's dad, was there as well.

"Both Derek and I watched it, and when it hit, 'Derek said no way,'" Hayden said. "Derek's dad threw his hands in the air, and we started going nuts on the tee box."

On Friday, during the high school tournament, Hayden's cousin, Austin Nosworthy, aced the 113-yard 6th hole at The Highlands with a pitching wedge.

"We saw it rolling and watched it roll into the hole," said Austin, a freshman at Coeur d'Alene High. "It was a great feeling."

It was the first ace for both.

"I never thought I'd hit a hole-in-one in my life," Hayden said. "I just hit it like any other shot. There was definitely some luck going into it. I thought Derek was just telling me that it was going in. But I thought it was kind of funny that it did."

"I don't really know how to explain it," said Austin, who shot 108 playing with the Vikings' No. 2 team. "It was an incredible feeling and was amazing to have it go in."

As far as an encore?

"It's really hard to say," Hayden said. "It seems like you'd have more of a chance now that you've done it before. Right now, I just try to hit each shot like you're going to make par and see what happens."

HAYDEN CALLED Austin on Thursday night and told him about his ace. The next day, when Austin told Hayden he'd done the same thing, it was unbelievable.

"Austin came up to me (at the course) with a big grin on his face and told me what he'd done," Hayden said. "I thought, what are the odds of that? At first, I thought he was joking, and had to go ask someone else. I just thought, 'oh my gosh', that's just pretty cool."

The following day at the tournament, Hayden almost pulled off a second straight ace on the hole, hitting his tee shot to within 6 feet and rolling in the birdie putt.

"I was playing really well and making a lot of pars and was 2-under after nine," Hayden said. "I ended up shooting a 79, and it wasn't the best round. But I made a six-foot birdie putt on the 14th."

While both attend separate schools, they still find time to hang out and golf together during the summer.

"I just enjoy getting to spend time with him," Austin said. "We've been playing golf together for a few years now. I just enjoy getting a chance got get out and play."

"We just get a chance to golf more often during the summer," Hayden said. "We just get a chance to hang out a lot during the summer."

And of course, enjoy this family milestone with each other for as long as it lasts.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.