RB man hits hole in one, wins porsche; might turn down car

RANCHO BERNARDO — Brian McLean calls himself an average weekend golfer. So when he Tweeted friends a picture of a sleek white 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera convertible that he could win for a hole in one, they said, “Good luck,” as in “Good joke.” Sure, he went to high school with Phil Mickelson and played since he was teenager, but as one friend said, “If you get a hole in one before me, I’ll quit the game.” photo Brian McLean< The friend might have to do just that. McLean hit a hole-in-one from 170 yards during the Member Guest Invitational at Country Club of Rancho Bernardo last month He was at hole number 12 with a par 3. The odds for an average player to hit a-hole-in-one are 12,000 to 1. McLean remembers teeing off and watching the ball land on the green. “I was looking for the ball several feet from the hole,” he said. The club official gave him two thumbs up. He heard someone say it was in the cup. “I walked over to the hole like a zombie. I just couldn’t believe it,” McLean said. “Then I was screaming — ‘It’s in the hole!’” Now a month after the June 23 tournament, McLean — a longtime Porsche enthusiast — thinks he’s going to turn down the car and instead take a cash payout from the country club’s insurance company. The model has a sticker price of $108,000 and McLean figures he’ll be paying $35,000 to $40,000 in taxes, so he needs cash to cover the IRS tab. McClean, a financial adviser and president of his Rancho Bernardo firm, BDM Wealth Management, has all the angles figured. On the one hand, it’s tempting to take the new Porsche and choose his own color and wheels, but on the other hand, being money savvy, he knows the new car will depreciate quickly, and he’ll be paying a larger percentage of the total winnings if he takes the car instead of cash. Another consideration is that he already owns a 1995 Porsche convertible that he bought five years ago. He’s not keen on the idea of selling his old Porsche to pay taxes on the new one. “This could be my chance to get a new car, but it goes against the grain,” McLean said. “I never buy a new car because it depreciates so much in the first few years.” He figures he’s got more options if he takes the cash, pays the taxes and buys a certified, pre-owned Porsche at a good price. “I keep telling myself it’s hard enough to get a hole in one, much less win a Porsche — this is crazy,” McLean said. “But it’s a good problem to have.”