Today’s article is a guest post written by PGA Master Professional, Eric C. Wilson, Ph.D.
To start with, the odds of hitting a hole-in-one are not good, regardless of what kind of golfer you are. This should be fairly obvious, as hitting a golf ball into a small hole a hundred or more yards away can go wrong for any number of reasons.
Conversely, it can also happen merely by accident, which has certainly been the ultimate cause in many cases of that fabled and elusive shot. As a study in the possibility of anyone making a hole-in-one, Golf Digest had Francis Scheid, Ph.D., retired chairman of mathematics at Boston University, model the odds:
Scheid broke the odds down based on the quality of the player and the amount of play. He said that the odds of a PGA tour player making a hole in one were 3000 to one. His data showed a low handicap player to have 5,000 to one odds, while an average handicap player had 12,000 to one odds. His study also showed that if you had a low handicap and played 1,000 rounds of golf then you had a five to one chance of making a hole in one. Statistically, then if the same player plays 5,000 rounds of golf, the odds increase to one to one. ~Golf Digest “What are the Odds of Hitting a Hole In One”
Even though the chances of a one stroke goal aren’t significant when even a professional golfer tees off any single time, a combination of luck, favorable circumstances, and skill have shown this unlikely event to occur with a regularity that seems surprising, the odds calculated above notwithstanding. It happens to professionals, hobbyists, private club members, and municipal course patrons, as can easily be looked up on the internet. In fact, there are now a number of ways to preserve the golfer’s name and the circumstances of their hole-in-one for posterity. There are, however, rules to follow when reporting an Ace shot for it to count officially:
- A person other than the player must witness the shot.
- The player must be playing only one ball during the round that he shot the hole-in-one.
- The player must be playing a round of at least nine holes when he shot the hole-in-one.
Even with such rules, the available records of these shots are far from complete. All holes-in-one aren’t reported and some that are reported never actually happened. In looking through the available records online, watching and reading various stories of great hole-in-one shots, and compiling available data, the College of Golf proclaims the following to be the 10 best holes-in-one in recorded history.
We invite anyone who has a good hole-in-one story to comment and add their words for posterity.
10 – In 1954 amateur Billy Joe Patton made a hole-in-one during the final round of the Masters, but sadly he didn’t make a playoff spot.
9 – Michael Crean, a professor at the University of Denver, holed a 517-yard, par-5 ninth in one shot at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in Colorado.
8 – In 2007, Elsie McLean, at 102 years old, hit a hole in one at Bidwell Park in Chico, CA. She is the oldest known player to do so.
7 – Tiger Woods hit his first hole-in-one at six years old. His first of these is a hint at later greatness and even more holes-in-one when he went pro.
6 – Fuzzy Zoeller’s extremely odd Ace has been the source of some controversy, since it was caught on video and looks rather impossible and obviously involves a good deal of luck. Judge for yourself: Fuzzy Zoeller’s Amazing Hole in One
5 – Gene Oates of Portage, Indiana recorded his 8th hole-in-one at the age of 77 in May of 2010. It was the exact same hole he hit his very first Ace on, during the late 1960’s. The odds against such an occurrence must be astronomical.
4 – Bradley Farmer was 15 in 1998, when he is reputed to have hit a total of 6 holes-one-one over the course of 41 days. He has faced skepticism for some of them based on the circumstances, but at least some of them are legitimate, making it quite an achievement for such a young man.
3 – Jason Bohn won a million bucks for hitting his hole-in-one in 1992. He later became a pro player of some note. Watch his reaction of excited disbelief here: http://www.thegolfchannel.com/golf-videos/top-ten-holes-jason-bohn-10649/
2 – Mancil Davis, sometimes known as the “King of Aces” is the professional record holder for the most holes-in-one. He has 50 under his belt, which makes it a less-than-unique accomplishment, but no less impressive.
1 – Vijay Singh is known to be an amazing golfer. Here’s his single most amazing shot (his is the second shot in the video), unfortunately recorded on an amateur camera. Watch the crowd go wild – Vijay Singh’s 2009 Masters Ace
Have you ever gotten a hole in one or have you witnessed one first hand? Tell us in the comments below!
About the Author:
Eric C. Wilson, Ph.D is a PGA Master Professional and Vice President of the College of Golf Keiser University in Port St. Lucie, FL. Students interested in golf education are taught not just fundamentals, but the rigors of the sport as well.