# Professional golf: highest score on one hole? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 12, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881 "2010-04-12T21:00:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/1 "2010-04-12T21:00:32Z")
Out on the links this weekend, we were talking about the the highest single-hole score in a professional tournament. The best I can come up with is John Daly putting six balls into the drink at Bay Hill, and taking an 18. Can anything beat that? ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/2 "2010-04-12T21:33:04Z")
[Ray Ainsley took a 19 on the (par 4!) 16th at Cherry Hills in 1938](http://usga.usopen.com/history/usopen-records.html#misc). That’s the US Open record anyway. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/3 "2010-04-12T21:46:56Z")
Tommy Armour had a 23 on a single hole in 1927. This was in a tournament the week after he won the U.S. Open. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/4 "2010-04-12T21:53:29Z")
> [@borschevsky](#): > > Tommy Armour had a 23 on a single hole in 1927. This was in a tournament the week after he won the U.S. Open. Wow. He sucks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/5 "2010-04-12T22:29:01Z")
What about in the last 30 years, then? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/6 "2010-04-13T00:42:12Z")
[http://www.usatoday.com/sports/golf/open00/fs15.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/sports/golf/open00/fs15.htm) John Daly cranked out a 14 in a tournament. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/7 "2010-04-13T01:10:26Z")
That doesn’t beat the 18 that Daly took on the 6th hole at Bay Hill as mentioned in the OP. I have followed pro-golf pretty closely for the last 30 yrs and I don’t remember any score higher than 18. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/8 "2010-04-13T03:10:15Z")
Tangentially related, depending on your handicap, you can’t have worse than a double bogey on any hole. ---
**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:** [April 13, 2010, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/9 "2010-04-13T04:31:13Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > Tangentially related, depending on your handicap, you can’t have worse than a double bogey on any hole. Not so in professional golf. Or any sanctioned tournament, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/10 "2010-04-13T07:12:29Z")
I once shot a 33 on the windmill at Mini-Golf. I call that my Don Quixote moment. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/11 "2010-04-13T11:58:27Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I once shot a 33 on the windmill at Mini-Golf. > I call that my Don Quixote moment. Don’t most mini-golf courses cap you at six strokes max per hole to keep people moving through the course. Must have been a slow day. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/12 "2010-04-13T12:29:23Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Not so in professional golf. Or any sanctioned tournament, for that matter. That is so. If you’re not playing in a tournament and you submit your scores for your USGA handicap, there are certain thresholds. If memory serves me right, a scratch golfer can only report a score that’s a double bogey as their highest score. I’m poking around the handicap rules, trying to find it. I’ll drop it if I can’t find it, though. Edited to add: [Found](http://www.usga.org/HandicapFAQ/handicap_answer.asp?FAQidx=9)it. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/13 "2010-04-13T12:53:31Z")
I think I’m saying the same thing as you, but let’s say I par every hole, except have a Tommy Armour style blowup on a par 4, and get a score of 20 on that. My raw score that would be used in any professional tournament would be 88. The score I use in a friendly competition would be 88 minus however many handicap strokes would be appropriate for the course. The score I report to the USGA for determining my handicap would be between 74 and 78, depending on my handicap, due to equitable stroke control reducing the 20 I took on the hole to somewhere between 6 and 8 for most golfers. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/14 "2010-04-13T13:24:33Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I think I’m saying the same thing as you, but let’s say I par every hole, except have a Tommy Armour style blowup on a par 4, and get a score of 20 on that. > > My raw score that would be used in any professional tournament would be 88. > > The score I use in a friendly competition would be 88 minus however many handicap strokes would be appropriate for the course. > > The score I report to the USGA for determining my handicap would be between 74 and 78, depending on my handicap, due to equitable stroke control reducing the 20 I took on the hole to somewhere between 6 and 8 for most golfers. Correct. My point isn’t even directly answering the original poster’s either. Just pointing out that you, Mr. Weekend Duffer, have the prerogative to slash some of the stokes off of the scores you send in for your handicap. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/15 "2010-04-13T14:00:12Z")
I found this [19](http://golf.about.com/b/2006/09/25/japan-tour-golfer-records-19-on-par-3.htm) by a player on the Japanese Tour. I haven’t been able to find any other scores that beat Daly’s 18 in the last 30 years. There was a 20 recorded at the French Open in 1978, but that’s slightly outside the 30 year cutoff. ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/16 "2010-04-13T16:46:30Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > Just pointing out that you, Mr. Weekend Duffer, have the prerogative to slash some of the stokes off of the scores you send in for your handicap. [nitpick mode on] Actually, it’s not your prerogative - it’s mandatory. To do otherwise is sandbagging. [nitpick mode off] ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/17 "2010-04-13T22:10:36Z")
Look ,my wife lost 2 balls when we were playing putt-putt golf. She asked me to go to the ticket box to ask for the second one. She was embarrassed. True story. So nothing surprises me. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-golf-highest-score-on-one-hole/535881/18 "2010-04-14T01:56:28Z")
My copy of Guinness doesn’t list anything for most strokes, other than a woman taking **166** strokes on a par-3 during the _Shawnee Invitational for Ladies_ in 1912. She hit it into a water hazard and the ball floated. So, she got her husband to get a boat so she could try to hit the ball out of the water… I’m sure the story is apocryphal. And a bit outside the 30-year limit.