Submitted photo Pictured is Bill McLean holding the ball on the 18th green after his double eagle on Wednesday at the New Ulm Country Club.

NEW ULM — For New Ulm’s Bill McLean, patience — and a pretty solid swing — led to prosperity on the golf course Wednesday at the New Ulm Country Club (NUCC).

McLean, 72, achieved one of the rarest feats in golf after he sank an albatross, aka a double eagle.

The odds of the average golfer making a hole-in-one are 12,500 to 1, according to the National Hole-in-One Registry.

And the odds of a double eagle?

Six million to one, according to Golf World writer Bill Fields.

McLean, a member at NUCC for the past 2 1/2 years since moving with his wife from Sioux Falls to New Ulm, recorded his double eagle on the par-5, 18th hole with a 4-hybrid club.

McLean’s sweet second shot on the 18th hole wasn’t that new to him, however, as he had a similar shot a week before at the Schell’s Bottle Cap Open last week.

McLean wasn’t afraid to admit he had a rough time at the Schell’s tournament, but he did have a great second shot on the 18th hole. After a nice drive from the white tee, McLean’s second shot with his 4-hybrid was on target and heading straight at the pin.

The shot went a little too far, though, rolling just over the green.

“It was a great shot, but I didn’t get rewarded for it, and that seemed to be the way that day was going,” McLean said.

On Wednesday, McLean was having a much better round at NUCC and had another chance to make his second shot on the 18th hole count.

“I hit a great shot and I knew it had to be right on the green or really close to the green,” McLean said. “But because of my experience a week ago when it went over, my hopes weren’t too high. So I was looking all over the place, and there were two other guys with me at the time, too, and we were looking all around and we just didn’t see it anywhere.”

McLean and his friends then started their search for the ball, looking on the green, short of the green, the rough and even in the 18th hole’s sand traps.

Finally, McLean located his ball in the sweetest spot it could be.

“I didn’t reach down because I didn’t want anybody to think that I had placed the ball in the hole or something like that,” McLean said. “So I said, ‘Guys, look.’ And they were right on the green then, too, and they looked over and I said, ‘Come here.’ So we all looked down at the same time and I said, ‘There it is.’ It was my ball at the bottom of the hole, and I was very, very thrilled because I’ve had two hole-in-ones, and those are sheer luck.

“A double eagle is sheer luck, too, but a hole-in-one can be a lot luckier because you can hit a screaming shot along the ground or you can hit off a tree and it could roll in — many of my friends have gotten hole in ones that very way with not very good shots. If it’s 120-yard hole and you hit a low-running shot and it happens to hit the pin and drop in, you still get a hole-in-one, which is pretty exciting. But to get a double eagle, you have to have two pretty darn good shots.”

After the double eagle, McLean celebrated with his friends.

“[Wednesday] it got rewarded, and it was fun,” McLean said of his second shot. “And, yes, I did buy drinks for all my buddies [laughs].”