Saban’s mom once called practice to boast about golf shot; Coach talks about his secret hole-in-one

Saban’s mom once called practice to boast about golf shot; Coach talks about his secret hole-in-one

Nick Saban values his practice time.

Don’t try to disrupt or interrupt it, unless, of course, you are his mother, Mary Saban. The then-81-year-old mother of the Alabama coach called him during a spring practice in 2013, according to Brett McMurphy of Action News. As you might imagine, Nick Saban was alarmed.

“She says, ‘Brother’ — everyone from West Virginia calls each other ‘brother’ — ‘Brother, I just wanted to let you know I just made a hole-in-one and you’ve never made one,’” Nick Saban said. “Yes, she really called me during practice to tell me she made a hole-in-one.”

The story led to a revelation by the coach. We know how competitive Nick Saban is. An avid golfer himself, Nick Saban, now 72, since that phone call, has recorded two holes-in-one. The first one, though, was never talked about before McMurphy’s report.

That’s because it took place in 2016 on his birthday during a bye week before his No. 1 Crimson Tide was heading to Baton Rouge and face No. 14 LSU. To celebrate the big day, Nick Saban and seven others hit the links.

He aced a par-3, 230-yard hole with a 3-wood, per the McMurphy report.

“It went in the hole, and there was eight of us playing,” Nick Saban said. “I said, ‘Look guys, this is a secret. No pictures, no internet, no nothing. Because if we lose to LSU next week and people find out I was playing golf, they’ll run me out of Alabama.’

“So, nobody ever knew.”

Alabama won the game, by the way.

As for the second? It took place in 2021. Check out the full report at Action News.

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.