Austin Bryan added to his family's golfing legacy with one of the sport's rarest feats -- a hole-in-one on a par 4. The former Bryan High football player aced the 10th hole at Georgetown's Berry Creek Country Club on July 23 during a member-guest tournament.

Playing partner Rob Ray hit his tee shot safely in the narrow fairway of the 360-yard dogleg right that has out-of-bounds stakes on the left and a tree-lined creek on the right.

Seeing his ball land in play, Ray turned to Bryan and said: "Go for it."

The tee box is tucked behind trees blocking the view of the green, and the smart play for right-handers is to fade a 3-wood, hybrid or long iron around the dogleg. Bryan opted to try driving the green since the worst the team could do was hit second shots from Ray's already perfect lie.

"That day I had been fighting a pretty severe hook with the driver, so fading a shot wasn't an option," Bryan said. "I decided to take the ball out over the creek and hope to hit a high draw that would climb over the trees and back into the fairway."

Bryan had reached the green once, maybe twice, he says, but on this occasion he was just trying to get the ball close enough for a chip at eagle.

"After I hit it, we all knew it was a great tee shot," Bryan said. "We had to walk over to the left side of the tee box to see it land. I didn't see it, but the guys in the group saw it land and mentioned that it might make the green."

Bryan watched the green where the group ahead was putting.

"One of the players on the front of the green raised his arm," Bryan said. "My first thought was, 'Oh, no ... I rolled it up on them.' Then all four players raised their arms and at that point I realized it probably rolled in for a one."

His fears of hitting a player fell away as he realized he might have accomplished one of the sport's rarest feats. Golf Digest says the odds of an average player making an ace on a par 3 is 12,000-to-1, and 5,000-to-1 for a low handicapper.

That's for a par 3.

As Bryan and Ray approached the green, four smiling players greeted them on bended knees, raising their hands and bowing down as they made eye contact with Bryan. The players reported to the big hitter that the ball hit the fairway and rolled up on the green, slowing down to drop in the cup like a long putt.

Bryan, who carries a 2 to 4 handicap, needed three holes just to stop shaking. He didn't even retire the ball, hitting it out of bounds two holes later. Luckily, he went back into someone's backyard and found the precious souvenir.

Word of Bryan's par-4 ace quickly traveled around the course, and by the end of the tournament the other 70 participants were in the clubhouse congratulating him -- and forcing him to pick up the beverage tab even though Bryan and Ray didn't win the tournament. They were four shots back of the winners and two strokes out of the money. Still, his shot was the buzz of the day.

A hole-in-one on a par 4 is so rare, there are not even accurate odds for it.

There's been only one hole-in-one on a par 4 on the PGA Tour. Andrew Magee did it in 2001 in Phoenix on the TPC Scottsdale's 17th. His ball redirected off the putter of Tom Byrum who was waiting to putt. There's a plaque on the hole commemorating Magee's accomplishment.

Maybe Berry Creek will do the same for the former Viking wide receiver who graduated from Bryan in 1991. Austin Bryan played golf as a youngster but concentrated on football and baseball for the Vikings. He played baseball at Hill College before hanging up his glove and spikes, picking up his clubs again.

Both of his grandfathers made sure he had a golf club in his hands at an early age. Travis Bryan Jr., a great amateur golfer, taught his grandson the game's finer points.

"It's funny. My grandfather would tell you my golf ability is purely genetics," Bryan said. "However, if we teamed up to play against his buddies he would advise them not to fear me because after all, I was only one fourth of him."

The Bryan Municipal Golf Course was renamed the Travis B. Bryan Golf Course last year in honor of Bryan's grandfather who died in 2009.

Austin Bryan already had made his grandfather proud on the golf course before his hole-in-one. He has won the last three club championships at Berry Creek after losing in sudden death in his first two appearances.

Bryan lives in Georgetown and works for Texas Capital Bank as senior vice president in commercial banking in downtown Austin. He said he will soon move to an office in Round Rock.

Bryan occasionally competes in amateur events around the Austin area.

"My grandfather always wanted me to be a great golfer like he was," Bryan said. "I suppose I'm trying to make one last little attempt before I get too old to compete with all of these young kids."

Whatever else he accomplishes, he'll forever be in a select circle of golfers who have aced a par 4.