Was this DP World Tour pro denied a hole-in-one by his own pitch mark?

Everyone loves a hole-in-one. Especially when it is caught live by television cameras.

Rory McIlroy raised the roof last week at the Travelers Championship with his first-ever hole-in-one on the PGA Tour.

Nicolai von Dellingshausen thought he’d done just that in the first round of the Betfred British Masters at The Belfry, but the golfing gods weren’t smiling on the German.

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His ball landed in front of the hole on the par-3 14th and hit the pin, the way many hole-in-ones begin.

But instead of spinning forwards and down the cup, von Dellingshausen’s ball appeared to stall in its own pitch mark in front of the hole – and agonisingly stayed above ground.

It would’ve been very appropriate for von Dellingshausen to make an ace on this hole, just as this week’s tournament host Sir Nick Faldo did at the Ryder Cup in 1993.

A tap-in birdie is always a happy consolation prize and von Dellingshausen followed this up with a birdie on the next hole too.

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