Why is it when you hit a hole-in-one you are supposed to buy yhe people in the clubhouse a drink? Seems like you’d be the one getting a free drink. I mean, you just did something very difficult for crying out loud. What next, climb Mt. Everest and buy everyone in Tibet dinner?
You buy them all beers so they can cry in them. Simple enough 
Cave Diem! Carpe Canem!
You’ll have better luck getting caddies in Nepal.
I think perhaps it is a consolation prize for those who weren’t so lucky. Or perhaps the one who made the ace is so overcome with joy that he feels no reservations about shelling out $20 for his unfortunate foursome.
Innit more like a birthday, or other special occasion, when you throw a party?
I think that was his point, Dex - ain’t they supposed to throw you a party?
Everyone in the Clubhouse? What are they rich? Maybe you meant everyone in the foursome, or twosome. 19th hole is a better word than Clubhouse 
The idea is that you have just had a piece of good luck and you are supposed to balance your karma by giving gifts to others. This is the same logic that makes a new father give out cigars or a lottery winner buy a new car for his mom.
I think it could quite well be a regional difference; I noticed that when I was living in the UK people would buy me a beer on my birthday, however when I was in the Netherlands I was the one who had to do the buying.
It only hurts when I laugh.
You have to remember that golf is a RWG (Rich White Guy) sport. In order to celebrate your victory, you have to show off even more by flaunting your wealth and buying the next round.
I say screw that. If I even managed to get on the green in one, everyone should buy ME a drink.
I agree with Guy.
Heck, people should be buying me drinks if I manage to hit the ball in the right direction.
“We’re gonna have lawyers here. It’ll be a fun time.”
–R.R.S.
I know the unluckiest golfer in the world. Guy at work. It was a par 3 over a water hazard. He tees it up, takes a swing… KERPLUNK! It’s in the water. (2 stroke penalty.) So he tees another one up, takes a swing… IT’S IN THE HOLE!!!
Probably the only “hole-in-one” he’ll ever get in his life. And it was scored a three.
“For what a man had rather were true, he more readily believes” - Francis Bacon
Apparently golfers who get aces are very giving folks. In my one summer as a caddy (slave labor with a stipend), anyone who was lucky enough to caddy for someone hitting an ace got around $100 tip. Unfortunately, this never happened to me, which might go some way in explaining why I have not set foot on a golf course since.
Is it true, that hitting a hole in one in Japan can be so expensive that the golfers purchase “Hole-in-one Insurance?”
pat
You can get “hole in one” insurance here in the States, but that’s usually for companies having a promotion. Something like hit: Hit a hole-in-one, win a car.
From my knowledge of Japan’s business culture that if you scored an ace, you’d be expected to pony up quite a bit for everyone in your group. This is balanced out by the fact that unless you are something like the CEO of Sony, you probably aren’t going to play more than once a year.
In Japan, you have to make advance reservations to get on to a driving range.