The hole-in-one story to beat all hole-in-one stories
The odds of getting a hole-in-one on a par 3 are slim – around 12,000-to-one, in fact. The odds of making a hole-in-one on a par 4 are, understandably, even slimmer, coming in at around 6 million-to-one.
Now we might need Rachel Riley to work out the probability of recording one of each in the same round, but according to the National Hole-in-One Registry the odds of two par-3 aces in 18 holes is a little over 67 million-to-one, so let’s just go with “astronomical”.
Matt Welsh prefers to call it “unbelievable”. That’s fitting enough.
The scratch player achieved the feat at Knock, needing just two shots to play the par-3 12th and par-4 17th during an Open competition at his home club.
Matt, who works in the fashion industry, carded one birdie and three bogeys to reach the turn at an underwhelming two over par by his own high standards. Then something changed.
“The 12th was playing 125 yards, slightly downhill, and wind behind, so it was only a gap wedge,” the 34-year-old tells NCG. It was his second ace on that hole but first in competition.
He didn’t have to wait long for his next.
“The 17th is only 260 yards but was into slight breeze so I just tried to cut a driver into it,” he explains. “And, yeah, the unbelievable happened.”
How Matt kept his composure to par the 18th only he knows, but an inward 29 was enough for a 4-under 66. Now he’s just waiting to find out if it was enough to win the tournament.
If you’re wondering, it was still three shots shy of the Knock’s course record of 63 – but we reckon this will still get him a place on the wall at the Belfast club.
NCG reached out to the National Hole-in-One Registry, who said there are simply too many variables involved. But if you know of any similar feats, I’d love to hear about them. Let me know in the comments below, or you can tweet me.
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Alex Perry
Alex has been the editor of National Club Golfer since 2017. A Devonian who enjoys wittering on about his south west roots, Alex moved north to join NCG after more than a decade in London, the last five of which were with ESPN. Away from golf, Alex follows Torquay United and spends too much time playing his PlayStation or his guitar and not enough time practising his short game.
