PENN TWP — Preparing to tee off on hole No. 18 at Conley Resort & Golf Course, Ben Merritt took out a “crappy” ball.

He took home a memorable one.

Merritt, a Mars graduate and Penn State sophomore finance major, was wrapping up a recent round of golf with his father and grandfather.

The No. 18 hole at Conley is 176 yards, the green sitting just beyond a long pond.

“I always bring two or three crappy balls to play that hole with because I usually lose them in the water,” Merritt said.

Not this time.

Merritt's drive sailed toward the pine trees located just off the green, but missed them. Instead, the ball landed on top of a slope, rolled down onto the green and into the cup for his first-ever hole-in-one.

The ace meant a lot to the family for different reasons.

Merritt played baseball in high school and did not take up golf until a little over a year ago. He's been playing a lot of golf since spring, primarily to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

“It became something to do, got me outside and was a way to stay active. That's what I did during quarantine,” Merritt said. “I golf with my buddies a lot, but I'll go play a round alone if I can't find anybody.

“Conley offers a discounted rate if you play at twilight and I've taken advantage of that quite a bit. To get a hole-in-one with my father and grandfather standing right there was pretty special.”

Merritt hit his tee shot last. His grandfather, Dave Merritt, landed his tee shot on the green while his father, Scott Merritt, put his in the water.

“I don't play much golf at all, maybe once or twice a year,” Scott Merritt said. “To play a round with those two guys was something I couldn't pass up.

“The three of us getting together like that, to share a moment like that is something I'll never forget.”

Dave Merritt, 71, of Erie, plays golf quite a bit. He belongs to a league there, that league getting off to a late start this season because of the pandemic.

“It's been a little bit different this year,” he said. “We normally congregate inside before and after we play, but we've had to social distance ourselves outside this season.”

Dave Merritt has golfed with his grandson only once before — a couple of days before his high school graduation.

“Dad usually comes down here three or four times a year to visit,” Scott Merritt said. “But this year's been hard on him.”

Dave Merritt's wife succumbed to a long battle with Alzheimer's/dementia in March. Because of the pandemic, he had been unable to visit his family in Mars until earlier this month.

That's when they played the round of golf.

“We were having a tremendous time together,” he said of the round. “Just coming down there felt good. And watching Ben's shot ... You rarely see a hole-in-one all the way through, in clear view like that.

“That was an enjoyable moment for me, something positive, something I welcomed.”

Dave Merritt has one hole-in-one in his career, sinking one 30 years ago at Conneaut Lake Park.

Now he says he has unfinished business.

“Ben won the round that day,” he said. “I'm going to have to come back down there and kick his butt next time. I'll definitely play with him again, hopefully a few times.”

His grandson would welcome it.

“I'd love to get back out there with the two of them and do it again,” Ben Merritt said. “I think we all appreciate how special that was.”