Where's My Stinkin' Hole in One?

by Ryan Ballengee on Aug 7, 2009 4:10 PM EDT Comment 9 comments

I hate reading stories in local newspapers about people that make holes-in-one. It's usually some guy who is playing his second round of golf and dunks one from about 120 yards with his kid watching. Everyone cheers, buy a soda, and the reporter quotes the guy saying, "Golly gosh! I can't believe I did it!"

Take this piece from The Forrest City, Arkansas Times-Herald. (I didn't even know that was a paper.)

[David] Hill hit his first-ever hole-in-one with West, and his son, Ben witnessing the event.

Hill hit the ace on the par 3, 117-yard No. 10 hole on Ridgecrest’s North Course. He hit the hole-in- one using a pitching wedge.

I've had enough. I've been golfing since I was 13 and I have exactly zero career holes in one. Thirteen years of golf and not a single one. Where's my freakin' hole in one?

I have a hole out for eagle on a par four. That's great and all, but it was a blind shot. I didn't even get to see it go in the hole. What fun is that?

Meanwhile, seems like everyone has had a hole-in-one. A few weeks ago, Leif Olson made the coolest one that I've ever seen at the Canadian Open. Apparently that wasn't enough as he then eagled on a par four at the Buick Open in the following tournament.

Then there's Mancil Davis. The guy has 51 career holes-in-one...documented. He made his first hole-in-one at age 11. And he has 10 double eagles, too.

Jackie Gagne made waves with her extravagant - and false - claims of hole-in-one glory. She didn't even bother to make up that kind of number. She said that she made sixteen aces in a single year. Golf Digest tore her claims to shreds. Meanwhile, Davis has witnesses for every one of the 51 aces.

I once played golf with a guy in high school who actually called his hole-in-one. It was a downhill, 90 yard par 3. He hit a 3/4 wedge to three feet sideways of the pin and it hopped in the hole. I don't need that kind of flare. I would just be happy with a hole-in-one that me and one other person could witness.

Hell, Natalie Gulbis has a hole-in-one on television. Sure, it was on The Price is Right. But look at this lady who played the same putting game. She got all of the prices right and only had to make a two-footer for a car - and she had never held a golf club in her life!

Everyone seems to be doing it. (SEA-DOO!) Holes-in-one are everywhere. All I am asking of God, Yahweh, Zeus, or Lord Titleist is one ace. Then I will happily settle for two or worse on my scorecard for the rest of my life.

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I'm with you, man.

It’s on my list of things to do, but unfortunately is out of my control. I might have told this story here before, but it’s appropriate to the topic.

Years ago, I was out for 9-holes in the fall in mid-November. I came to the par-3 6th hole at the course where I worked. It was about a 145 yard shot, but I was into a cool, blustery wind, so I decided to hit a knock-down 7-iron (which is about 2-clubs up for me).

I hit the shot, and of course, it completely did the opposite of what I wanted. It ballooned up in the wind and went into the top of a huge oak tree short and left of the green. I couldn’t see it come down, so I hit a provisional ball because with all the leaves on the ground and me being by myself and having no idea where the call could have ended up, it could easily have been lost.

I teed up another ball, and this time hit the precise shot I wanted to hit the first time. It did exactly what I wanted and bored through the wind straight at the pin where it landed short of the flag, bounced once, checked, and rolled into the hole.

To make matters worse, instead of carding the best par-save in history, I went down and found the ball right under the tree. A poor pitch and two putts and it was the worst bogey of my life.

Why couldn’t I, for once in my life, hit the good shot the first time instead of the second?

by Double Eagle on Aug 7, 2009 6:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

hey – you’re welcome to mine…if you hook me up with one of the Price is Right beauties ! :-)

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Aug 7, 2009 6:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

a heckuva

golfer never had an ace. His brother, nephew and son, all PGA professionals, had at least one each…

...from the land of pleasant living, Baltimore.

by One-Eyed Golfer Guy on Aug 8, 2009 11:56 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Bill Bassler, Sr., golf professional at my club for almost sixty-years AND

...from the land of pleasant living, Baltimore.

by One-Eyed Golfer Guy on Aug 8, 2009 11:57 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I wonder how many PGA / Nationwide / LPGA / Euro Tour ….don’t have one.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Aug 8, 2009 12:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It's said that...

…Ben Hogan never had one.

by Double Eagle on Aug 8, 2009 3:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Really? Never for Hogan? That seems crazy to think – especially since he was such a lousy short putter!

Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.

by Ryan Ballengee on Aug 9, 2009 12:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hard to believe

The odds of a hole in one are pretty small, but the sheer number of holes that top-level pros play makes it almost an automatic that they’re going to get one at some point. I wonder if in Hogan’s case, it just applies to tournament rounds. I did read something somewhere where a guy said he spoke to Hogan and Hogan said he had two. Maybe practice rounds or casual play? I also read somewhere else that he supposedly never had any even during casual play, so who knows.

by Double Eagle on Aug 9, 2009 2:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

3 in six weeks

In this week’s Catonsville Times, there will be a story of a golfer from RRGC who has made three aces in the past six weeks. I was playing with him for the first two and was on the veranda overlooking the 15th hole when he made his 3rd. He had never made one prior to six weeks ago. Apparently I bring good luck…

One-Eyed Golf Guy witnessed my 163-yard 8-iron for an ace last year. It was my first hole-in-one, but wasn’t my only eagle of that day ;-)

by MattSpence on Aug 10, 2009 8:28 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

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