Falcons quarterback TJ Yates can say he's done something few professional golfers have after what can only be described as a productive bye week.
Thinking about getting some rest and relaxation before the Falcons would return for last week's preparations for Tampa Bay, Yates took his wife, Amy, out to Sugar Hill Golf Club, not far from Falcons headquarters, for a quick nine holes.
He had never played the course when he stepped to the tee box of the 291-yard par-4 No. 7, so he wasn't sure how to play such a short hole. Grabbing his three wood, he teed it up and let it fly, hoping for the best.
He watched as the ball headed toward a hill on the right side of the green, but then he lost track of it. Thinking he was on the green, Yates was shocked when he pulled up and didn't see his ball anywhere.
After looking for about five minutes, he gave up on it, thinking it was a lost ball. As he walked up to where his wife's ball was on the front of the green, he couldn't believe what he saw in the cup.
"I scared her because I screamed so loud. I was like, 'Holy crap!' " Yates said. "I was looking in the hole and she said my face just went white. She thought something was dead in the hole, like an animal. I was so surprised the ball was in there. I went nuts. I was shaking."
A hole-in-one is a rare occurrence; getting one on a par-4 is even more so. In fact, only five golfers have ever aced a par-4 in tournament play on any professional tour.
Yates, who has been playing for about seven years, is still in shock over his good fortune more than two weeks later.
"To have one on a par-4 was crazy," Yates said. "I wish I could have seen it go in. I couldn't even really see the green where I was. I could see part of it because it was so far away. You kinda wish you could be out there with some of your golf buddies or some of the guys you usually play with because my wife was like, 'Is that good?'
"I was like, 'Yeah, that's pretty good.' "
