Hole in one!
Funnily enough that's almost exactly what happened to my nearest one, I was following this little old chap in a buggy round a course one evening (one of the tracks at Woodlands in Bristol) and we came to the short par 4, it's about 275 yards but has a 90 degree dogleg left, which means the green is within 4 iron range for me, but it's a blind shot (luckily there's an electricity pylon in the distance which gives a line to the centre of the green).
As you walk off the previous green you can look up the fairway to the green and as I was walking to the tee I saw him drive his buggy away from the green to the next tee, so I assumed he'd finished (there's no bell or anything), teed up my ball, took aim on the pylon and hit it. I knew I'd hit a decent shot so I expected to be somewhere near the green, wandered up the fairway and started looking for my ball but couldn't find it. Eventually after giving up I looked in the hole as it was the only place I hadn't looked and there was my ball but immediately I knew something was up, don't know why, it just didn't feel right.
Anyway, two holes later I caught up with him on a tee, bade him a Good Afternoon and after a pause asked him if he'd played a little trick on me back on that green and this big cheeky grin spreads across his face and he started laughing and apologised, I called him a name, apologised for nearly killing him, which made him laugh even more and asked him how far away it was. He held up his thumb and forefinger and said it was no more than a couple of inches, which, to be honest, I was actually quite happy about, if it had gone in nobody would ever have believed me...
There's so much luck involved, some people are lucky, some people are not. I'm quite regularly in the latter camp, so if I ever get another, I'll be extremely surprised.
I'm sure I'll have some more near misses, I did 2 weeks ago, just crept past the hole, but I'd rather be playing consistently good golf, than ever get another hole in one, much more satisfying IMO.
My mate says it's time to get me on an 18 hole course, I dread to think what I'll come home in. 
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I dread to think what I'll come home in. " />
Word of advice, dont use the bus, it's a devil to get your bag through the doors and there's never anywhere to stow it
On a somewhat relevant note, I spoke with my brother yesterday, he's been playing around 6 months (you know whats coming don't you). Jammy bar steward holed a six iron on a 150 odd yard par 3 last week Grrrrrrrr
There's so much luck involved, some people are lucky, some people are not. I'm quite regularly in the latter camp, so if I ever get another, I'll be extremely surprised.
I think there's an element to suggest that newer or higher handicap players are more likely to get them than "better" players, for the following reason: At the moment, I'd be willing to bet your par 3 shots, wedges, 9 irons, everything, lands on the green and then rolls forward, towards the flag (if you landed short). My shots, because I'm a very high ball hitter, don't do that, they land and, depending on the club, either stop dead or come back a bit, so unless I land the ball right behind the hole it's never going in (even if you land the ball in the hole there's more chance of it coming back out again than staying in there).
Nah, better players are more likely to have them, seemingly. One of the golf mags commissoned someone to work out the probability of various players having a hole-in-one. An average golfer has something like a 12000/1 chance but beginners were nearer 40000/1.
Pros just hit it to a yardage, I guess it doesn't matter whether it goes forward or back when it lands as it'll still go in. Many of the guys on the Senior circuit have had about 20. Tiger's had that many already. CH3 has had two on tour this year alone.
None of that compares to Kim Jong Il, obviously!
Nah, better players are more likely to have them, seemingly. One of the golf mags commissoned someone to work out the probability of various players having a hole-in-one. An average golfer has something like a 12000/1 chance but beginners were nearer 40000/1.
I'd need to know what "average" means in this context, I'd be willing to bet the "average" handicap is in the low 20s, so I'm "better" than that (I'm not "good" though, which is why I'm putting "better" in quotes). But my point was more about the type of shot different golfers hit, it always going to be easier to hole a ball if it runs forward a little after landing than if it just stops like mine do. If the ball doesn't move after landing it has no chance of going in the hole, if it hits the hole it's more likely to come back out (and probably finish up quite a long way from the hole).
Generally speaking pros are not aiming for the hole, they're aiming for a particular spot on the green to leave themselves the easiest putt, if everyone else is like me it doesn't matter where the hole is there's always a part of my mind that's trying to get the ball in it!
But of course pros have another advantage, beyond the fact that they're that much better than us lot, they play every single day, all year long, most of us probably only play once a week, that'll make a huge difference to the odds as they have more opportunites for a hole in one.
Of course, as the song says, Nothing Compares 2 Jong...
CH3 has had two on tour this year alone.
At the risk of going OT, Methylium cations apart, who or what is CH3?
CH3 has had two on tour this year alone.
At the risk of going OT, Methylium cations apart, who or what is CH3?
I was wondering that, the only person I can think of is Charley Hoffman but I can't find any mention of him being a III. He does have a lovely mullet though...
I assumed it was the third ranked Swiss player on the tour...
I assumed it was the third ranked Swiss player on the tour...
I'd be surprised if there were even three Swiss players on tour.
I assumed it was the third ranked Swiss player on the tour...
I'd be surprised if there were even three Swiss players on tour.
Reality wasn't really a necessary part of that joke...
I don't know what the 'average' handicap was, it was an article from quite a while back. I know what you mean about the ball releasing forward, but pros don't just have one shot like you or I 
If they want it go in low and run up to the flag it's easy enough for them to do that.
But of course pros have another advantage, beyond the fact that they're that much better than us lot, they play every single day, all year long, most of us probably only play once a week, that'll make a huge difference to the odds as they have more opportunites for a hole in one.
If I remember correctly, it was on a per shot basis. I think the way it was worked out was by using a hypothetical situation of various players trying to get an ace on a typical par 3. So if a pro had 4000 attempts, chances are he'd hole one. An average golfer would require three times more balls, and a beginner would be there for, oh, a week.
Someone else did calculations about probability taking into account the amount of times you play, and obviously pros were even likelier to hole one than you or I when that's factored in. Hence why there's often about 30 of them each year, per tour.
As for CH3, y'dont know Chucky three sticks? Tch! Is Google not working or something? 
It's Charles Howell III.
But you have control of the ball, and control of the ball means that you can manipulate the ball with the swing, this will give you a better chance of a hole in one long term. It also means your score will be lower than a golfer who has no control, its a good place to be.
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Not sure if I've had one or not. I drove the green of a par 4 which was blind, so I didn't realise the group in front were still on the green. My fault, but they were ridiculously slow. The group in front took exception to this and chucked my ball in the bunker at the back of the green. When I apologised, some of them sheepishly said my ball knocked in one of their balls, which was sitting on the edge of the cup, but one of them later said it was actually my ball which went in the hole. Guess I'll never know now.
One of my mates is a rather good golfer, and casually mentioned he'd had a hole in one recently. He didn't seem that fussed, so I asked him if he'd had one before. He seemed rather embarrassed to admit he'd already had 6. Git!