# Ever shoot a hole in one? (In real life golf) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 20, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319 "2011-03-20T03:17:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/21 "2011-03-21T06:57:26Z")
I consider it a major accomplishment when I manage to par a hole. ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/22 "2011-03-21T15:30:29Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I saw a woman get a hole in one by skipping the ball off the surface of a pond. I bet that is rare. Maybe it’s rare, but V. J. Singh did it (deliberately!) during a warmup round at the 2009 Masters. By tradition all of the pros try to skip their ball off of the water and onto the green during the warup round on this particular hole. I found a couple of YouTube videos of the event. [This one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLzX62nXPTo) was the best of the lot, and you can see the competitor before V. J. also skip his ball over the water and onto the green. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/23 "2011-03-21T17:07:12Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > my younger brother (age 10 at the time) hit one on a par-3 course in Hallandale, Florida the first time we ever golfed. (He had been taking driving lessons for a year or so.) To illustrate how little we knew about golf, I was putting on the tee as he was teeing off, so I witness personally his drive as the ball came right up to me and dropped into the hole. He walked up, asked “Where is it?” and I told him. He smiled and and asked why I was so excited (I was twelve). I said “You got a hole-in-one!!” and he asnwered “That’s what I was trying to do.” > > We finished the round, and we explained at the clubhouse while returning the rental clubs what had happened. They flat out didn’t believe us. (There was some system for what happened if you got a hole-in-one, i forget exactly what, a round of drinks, your name on the clubhouse wall, but we didn’t know about it and didn’t care, and were a little hurt that everyone thought we were big liars.) > > In the 44 years since then, my brother has won several championships at his country club, and has probably golfed thousands of rounds. Never hit another hole-in-one. > > I also discovered through an internet search while looking for my dad that HE hit a hole in one when I was a baby, but when I was growing up (and when my brother was taking golf lessons) we never even heard from him that he had ever golfed. My brother has read this post (he has a guest account here but has posted only once) and points out that I was standing on the GREEN not the tee (DUH!!)–I also noticed that it’s been 46 years since he was 10, not 44. Also that the past tense of “witness” is “witnessed.” ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/24 "2011-03-21T17:19:51Z")
> [@Jules\_Andre](#): > > I once shot 38 under on a round of 18 holes. I think I got five holes-in-one. It was my first round ever too. It’s a pretty simple game. That’s great! I’m still Laughing out loud two minutes later. ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/25 "2011-03-21T17:21:15Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > My brother has read this post (he has a guest account here but has posted only once) and points out that I was standing on the GREEN not the tee (DUH!!)–I also noticed that it’s been 46 years since he was 10, not 44. Also that the past tense of “witness” is “witnessed.” How does that song go? “Yes, I remember it Well!” ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/26 "2011-03-21T17:30:51Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I saw a woman get a hole in one by skipping the ball off the surface of a pond. I bet that is rare. When I worked at a golf course as a teenager, a guy I knew got a hole-in-one there by bouncing the ball off the surface of a frozen lake. It was a par-4 hole, too–the hole was only about 300 yards long, and normally you had to lay up on the tee shot. It was all over the local papers. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/27 "2011-03-21T17:45:06Z")
Nope. I too have come within inches a few times though. I still have about 20 years of “good” golf ahead of me, and maybe another 10 years of geriatric golf after that, so there’s still time. My mom has had two. Well, like **Lamar Mundane** her first one was technically par. ETA: A guy in my Tuesday night league had one a couple of years ago. And yes, he bought a round for the clubhouse. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/28 "2011-03-21T17:50:14Z")
Yep. I used to average about 7-8 for an 18 hole course. That damn windmill messed me up on a regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/29 "2011-03-21T18:07:35Z")
I hit one at a friend’s bachelor get-together. 180 yards with a 4 iron with the other three guys pissing me off with their loud talking while I was trying to tee off. I finished the round shooting a 121, which should tell you how good of a golfer I am! (I really, really need to get coached on how the hell to actually swing a club!) ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/30 "2011-03-21T18:07:42Z")
A couple of summers during college all I did was play public par 3 courses since I was broke all the time and it’s all I could afford. I got one the first summer (since par 3 courses are basically the same shot over and over) and my goal was to get another the next summer but it never happened. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/31 "2011-03-21T21:09:05Z")
One, in thirty years of trying, same as my dad. I like to play alone, but the starter put me with a two-some this time. Some geezer and a Playboy-type hottie. Great. Turns out he’s the Monsignor for the area, knows my in-laws and such. Anyway, there’s a 450 yd dogleg right par 5. The tee is elevated over the green by about 30 feet or more, with trees lining the entire fairway. However, a recent storm knocked tree down on the right side of the far leg, so if you were lucky, you could avoid the turn, and just shoot for the front of the green. Just for the heck of it, I tried it, and got the luckiest drive I’ve ever had in my life. My ball shot through the 20-foot gap in the trees like a field goal, hit the edge of the cart path and bounced up onto the green. Monsignor commented on his luck with prayers as we went to the green. We looked for my ball for 3-4 minutes before finding it in the hole. No one ever believes me until the head priest of the diocese tells them he saw it. My MIL still won’t. Thinks I blackmailed him because of the hottie.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/32 "2011-03-21T21:15:16Z")
> [@sevenwood](#): > > Maybe it’s rare, but V. J. Singh did it (deliberately!) during a warmup round at the 2009 Masters. By tradition all of the pros try to skip their ball off of the water and onto the green during the warup round on this particular hole. > > I found a couple of YouTube videos of the event. [This one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLzX62nXPTo) was the best of the lot, and you can see the competitor before V. J. also skip his ball over the water and onto the green. The woman I saw shanked the shot, she was not trying to hit the water ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/33 "2011-03-21T22:33:49Z")
Yes, when I was about 15. Hole 15 I believe, at Longshore Golf Club in Westport, CT. This is a par 3 hole, but there’s an active street going through the middle of it, which sort of blocks your view of the green when cars are going by. I knew I had a perfect shot, but I didn’t see it go into the hole, so I didn’t realize it was in there until everybody else teed off and we went to the green. I couldn’t find my ball anywhere, and another player pointed out that it was in the hole. To this day, I’m not completely sure they weren’t playing a prank of me, but I like to credit myself as getting it legit. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/34 "2011-03-21T22:42:27Z")
Yes. I was 17, so 35 years ago. I still have the ball - an old British size (1.62") Dunlop 65. The tradition at the club was to buy a bottle of scotch and put it on the bar. Owing to my tender years (but still happy to take my underage money), the club manager said I could just buy everyone a drink. Unfortunately, my dad called all his friends who turned up in time to make the round of drinks considerably more expensive than a bottle of scotch. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/35 "2011-03-22T03:45:39Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Closest I ever came was dropping on the green about a foot and a half away from the hole. Which I then proceeded to bogey. > > Talk about a hard one to live down. 3 putted from 1 1/2 feet? 😛 > [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > I hit a hole in three. I hit my tee shot into a lake, re-teed, and hit a shot onto the front of the green, which bounced once then rolled about thirty feet with fifteen feet of break and into the cup. A cart pulled up next to the green from the adjacent hole and two guys watched me walk up and pull my ball out. “Dude, you just hit a hole in one! Why aren’t you at least smiling?” I told them what happened and they acted like I had just told them my mother had died. > > True story. Happened to Arnold Palmer once-“three the hard way” he called it. > [@ducati](#): > > My ball shot through the 20-foot gap in the trees like a field goal, hit the edge of the cart path and bounced up onto the green. Monsignor commented on his luck with prayers as we went to the green. > We looked for my ball for 3-4 minutes before finding it in the hole. You win the thread. Wikipedia says there have been only 4 condors (-4) in the entire history of golf-they aren’t counting yours as well are they? ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/36 "2011-03-22T04:05:15Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Seriously? That’s three more than 95% of PGA pros have. Maybe 99%. You might be the world record holder. Seriously. It was at a very short course that I play quite a bit as it is near my cottage. It’s not like we are talking 550 yard par fives though. One is about 420 with a severe dog leg right (two of them) and the other is about 440 from the tips (the other one). I’m using a wedge to get in to the green so realistically it is an eagle on a long par four, but on the score card it counts as a double eagle. I wouldn’t be too impressed. There is a reason that I leave out the length of the holes. It’s WAY more impressive if I just say that I have three double eagles (which, technically I do). Holing out for eagle on par fours isn’t entirely uncommon for me. I don’t do it regularly, but I have done it a number of times (maybe a half dozen if you include the double eagles in 25 years of golf. I’m 33, played since I was 8). ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/37 "2011-03-22T04:15:37Z")
> [@](#): > > One is about 420 with a severe dog leg right (two of them) and the other is about 440 from the tips (the other one). You’d have to hole out your tee shots for a double eagle on those holes. Par fives start at 475 yards, per USGA guidelines. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/38 "2011-03-22T04:52:36Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > You’d have to hole out your tee shots for a double eagle on those holes. Par fives start at 475 yards, per USGA guidelines. Really? I live in Canada, that change anything? Feel like I just found out there was no Santa Clause 😉 To add something to the actual thread, my Uncle got a hole in one in his early nineties. He golfed his age that day, he seemed more proud of that than he did his actual hole in one (I reckon there is some record of his ace at the Ingersoll Golf and Country Club). ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/39 "2011-03-22T05:08:03Z")
> [@drm](#): > > Really? I live in Canada, that change anything? Feel like I just found out there was no Santa Clause 😉 Not really. I’ve played plenty of golf in Canada and I’ve yet to see a course mesured in metres. England is the same. 420 meters still isn’t a par five, and 440 just barely qualifies. If you’re hitting a wedge into a 480 yard par five you’ve got to be driving it 330. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319/40 "2011-03-22T11:22:09Z")
I’ve never seen one in person. I’ve come within a foot, myself. My friend’s father-in-law has hit 4 in his lifetime. I’ve never even had an eagle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-shoot-a-hole-in-one-in-real-life-golf/575319.md?page=3)