Ugliest hole in one?

I think I have a candidate from this past weekend. The par-3 3rd @ Northdale, Tampa FL was playing about 150 over water. The greens were aerated this week, so I had no expectations regarding score since anything outside of 1 foot was going to be a crapshoot.

Took a 9i and hit it very thin - the ball never got 10 feet off the ground. It cleared the pond (probably 120yds) by less than 10ft. Bounced up the hill like a grounder back up the middle in baseball, rolled through the sand on the green and dropped in for an ace.

If they hadn't aerated the greens, the ball would have been rolling so fast that it would have hit the pin and bounced sideways off the green.

I was playing alone, and there was no one in sight to witness this. I've come close many times, and find it really funny that the one time the ball does drop, is on possibly the worst tee shot I've ever hit on this hole (my parents live on this course, I might have 100 rounds there)

Anyone got a better story?

Golf is a funny and cruel game!

My twin made the same crap ace as you but also has a pure one, almost identical, thin and over a pond

here’s one from our member guest. Par 3, 170 over lake. 75 year old short knocker ... needs driver. Fats it a whisker, hits rocks, couple of ricochets, on shoreline ... ball goes 10 yards forwards onto green and ace

won a BMW 6 series and he’s a retired Toyota exec

I had a dirty ace last week. Like you it was playing alone so no witnesses, no glory.

175 yard par 3 with a bunker in front. I thinned a shot that probably never got more than 10 feet off the ground, hit the bunker on the fly, bounced out and onto the green and trickled into the cup (which had a cut off pool noodle in it). I could still see the ball so I didn't even know it went in until I got to the green. So underwhelming.

Had it not hit the bunker first it would have screamed over the green and left me about 30 yards coming back.

Friend in high school. First day on a golf course. 135 yd par 3. Topped a 7 iron and rolled all the way. Said golf is too easy and retired.

25 or 30 years ago plying with my friend Mike.

Hole 5, par 4, hard dogleg right (90 deg), The green is driveable if you hit a driver over the woods on the corner but its dicey with the thick woods to the right all the way down the hole.

Mike the kind of guy where its all or nothing, hits driver over the corner with a bit of a hard fade. We hear the ball bouncing off wood (AS USUAL) and I remember hearing it bounce off wood at least twice. So we cant find his ball. I chip up and walk onto the green to mark my ball, look in the hole, and there it is. Mikes ball had richocheted off at least two trees and somehow miraculously ended up in the hole.

smh......

my mom tagged along for a round with me. she kept complaining about my dad. i hit the most beautiful 6 iron into the wind. i knew from the trajectory that the ball had a chance to go in. it sure did. my mom never stopped complaining about my dad the whole time. she paused a moment to say, "congratulations" and kept complaining. unreal.

Had he already assumed his ball was lost and played another? Now that would a kick in the pants.

Even if he played the whole hole with another ball, the ace would still be valid.

Once the ball is holed, the hole is finished and that counts.

I am not sure if it's a better story, but I hit a worm burner 5-wood that rolled to the left side of the green (sloping left to right), and rolled down to the right side of the green and into the hole.

Buddy of mine is a 30+ max handicapper. He was playing in vegas fro his brother's bachelor party. Hooked one into the desert on a par 3, hit a rock and you guessed it, on the green and in the hole.

yeah, golf is a funny game

I was a teen caddying for a wealthy banker (17 hdcp) at private Donald Ross course in Rhode Island ... this guy’s backswing involved bouncing the shaft off the middle of his back ... we are at #5, 160 yards out ... I hand him his usual go to club, a 5 wood ... he winds up, does the shaft bounce off his back, hits it fat, barely makes it over a bunker, lands it in rough which slowed the ball up just enough for it to trickle onto the green and into the hole which was cut < 10 feet from front edge.

He paid me the minimum ($12 for 18). I remember feeling like giving his $12 back to him. The other gent I was caddying for saw what happened and gave me an extra $20 and told me ‘’never be as cheap as that ****.’’ I was 14. I still remember his name and never tip like him.

I saw a guy in a scramble hit one for $5k. It was his first time playing golf. Hole played 160 yards and he bounced it off the cart path and dropped it.

Dad had a ricochet shank off a sprinkler head, never got much joy out of it. I did hole out a tee shot once but it was on an adjacent hole

Did Mike invent that new mulligan genie?

Playing with my brother in law, fun to play with because I never know what I’m going to see and he’s an ATM, but not good and doesn’t seem to realize it. I’ve never seen him break a hundred yet he gets nuclear level pissed off at his really bad shots. Par 3 playing about 160 yards, he chooses a 6 iron which I knew wasn’t enough club and subconsciously he must’ve too, massive over swing. Ball went relatively straight about 5 feet in the air. The volcano erupted, club thrown about 30 yards, storming off to the side cursing the stupid sport. Ball hits a tree behind the green flush, comes back towards the hole, tracking right at it. He’s still muttering to himself as I’m watching the ball thinking to myself “are you effing kidding me?” Then it dropped in. A second or two goes by and he’s somewhat recomposed himself and asked where did it go. “Oh, it went in the hole.” Complete 180 and I now get to watch an elated eruption. He went full Ricky Bobby and had all his clothes off sprinting to the green. An unforgettable 5 minutes for sure.

Not quite a hole in one but on a short par 5 I have seen someone block a ball so badly right it hit off the rocks/concrete of the course's main drainage ditch, kick back in play, and then rip a 3W that just trickles into the hole for albatross. Just a random person I was paired with. Never seen anything like it, dude was absolutely beside himself elated.

Loving these stories. Especially the ones where the ball pinballs all over the place and somehow winds up in the hole. Golf is an enticing but cruel mistress. @MikeW2 , wish I was a fly on the wall for that one. Or that you had a GoPro filming the event. You'd probably be retired by now just from the views on YouTube if you did.

seriously similar story... i had like 140y and I thinned a 7i to about 40 feet in front of the green and it just trickled onto the green and in the hole. Not kidding it was probably like my 10-20th round of golf EVER. since then I have had 1 more on the same course.

So depressing. 20 years of playing this game and never had one

You never know when it will happen. I didn't even see mine (at least I didn't realize it in real time) -- hit a 5-wood on a relatively long one, saw it hit the front of the green, take one bounce and disappear. As I came up to the green, I couldn't figure out where my ball was. I was looking behind the green when my uncle called me over to the cup. I figure it must have hopped in on one bounce. Nice, but I'd prefer having been able to watch it go in. Still, one doesn't complain about putting 1s on your scorecard.

That same year, a course very near my home was doing this month-long hole-in-one contest. Each day, people would go out and qualify; closest for the day went to the final event. My wife kept reminding me, and I kept putting it off until the last day. I knew the hole where the qualifying was held, so I grabbed 3 different irons and walked over. In the clubhouse, I saw the yardage - it wasn't at all what I expected, so I went home and grabbed 3 different clubs. Went back, waited in line, got up to the tee, and realized the the yardage in the clubhouse was wrong (my first 3 irons were correct). Got out of line, went into the clubhouse, asked to borrow a club so I didn't have to go home again, got back in line.

Contest was 3 shots for $5 to charity. Got up there, hit 3 mediocre shots. Turned to leave, and the guy at the tee asked "want to do it again?" I shrugged, handed him $5 and took three more tries. First two were no good. Third was straight on -- ended up about a foot from the cup. I heard a collective groan from the line behind me (one guy said he'd have gone home if it hadn't been the last day).

So I made the final. A fair number of spectators showed up for it. First prize was $1 million (I can't remember who put up the money; this was 1994). We all got one shot, and went off in the order of the day that we qualified, so I was last. Out of 30 golfers, I was sure I'd see a few really bad shots, but almost everyone hit it well. The ONE guy who didn't, bounced his shot all the way to the green and ended up about 5 feet away. He won the consolation prize of a trip to Scotland. (My shot was pin high, but about 15' right.) At least I got a nice shirt out of it.

My buddy hit and iron about 180 rolled up to the green at about 205, and rolled off the bank of the bunker into the hole!

Maybe a fly for audio aftermath definitely not the celebratory video ?

So my story isnt about me, i still dont have an ace, but have been close a few times. My buddy took up golf about 4 years after me, making up a regular 4 ball of school friends. I think it was about a year after he started playing, the 2 of us went out for a quick 9. Par 3, 185 yards, bunker left and right, huge mound covering left quarter of the green and the bunker. Green has a tier at the front, which then drops down, pin is back right, probably 30 feet left of the left bunker and you cannot see the hole itself as its below our eyeline.

Buddy hits an ok shot for him, probably carries 160 but is heading for the left bunker. Bounces just before the mound, takes a good bounce and flies the mound straight at the bunker, we dont see it bounce so obviously its hit the sand and hes got a nice long bunker shot to get up and down...... right!?

We walk up to the bunker, we are looking around, no sign of it, bunker is pristinely raked. We check left of the bunker, and long, check the sprinkler heads. Spend 6-7 minutes looking in the rough just off the green which is quite long, but no sign. So he walks back to the tee, course is empty, hits another to about 10 feet short of the green. Chips on. i then take my putt from 14 feet, sink it for birdie, he gives me a high five. I then bend down to pick up my ball... and there is his, sat hiding under mine in the bottom of the cup. Cue hysterical laughter and confused looks. We didnt bother to check the hole before as there was no way we could have envisaged that the ball would have taken that route to the hole based on what we had seen. Amazing. He is still the only one of our group with an ace.

Mine was less than perfect....

171 - slightly downhill. Pin on a front small nose of the green, bunker short side on the right and fall off on the left. It was not a good day on the course - I was battling the hook. The shot called for a fade and I was playing to be just on or short with a solid 8i. I'm man enough to admit I was trying to hit a fade and I hit a draw lol. I started the ball over the edge of the right bunker and it started drawing back. I had already taken one hand off the club and said "well go that way then" as I was surprised to see a draw. Ball landed short right of the flag, took two quick hops in the 10 o clock direction and disappeared. The worst part was my playing partner had to go pick his kids up from school so I couldn't even celebrate with drinks :(

On 6/23/2020 at 6:49 AM, hagimihale said:

I think I have a candidate from this past weekend. The par-3 3rd @ Northdale, Tampa FL was playing about 150 over water. The greens were aerated this week, so I had no expectations regarding score since anything outside of 1 foot was going to be a crapshoot.

Took a 9i and hit it very thin - the ball never got 10 feet off the ground. It cleared the pond (probably 120yds) by less than 10ft. Bounced up the hill like a grounder back up the middle in baseball, rolled through the sand on the green and dropped in for an ace.

If they hadn't aerated the greens, the ball would have been rolling so fast that it would have hit the pin and bounced sideways off the green.

I was playing alone, and there was no one in sight to witness this. I've come close many times, and find it really funny that the one time the ball does drop, is on possibly the worst tee shot I've ever hit on this hole (my parents live on this course, I might have 100 rounds there)

Anyone got a better story?

No. You win!

A win is a win, don't care how ugly.

Eons ago playing this hole inn a corporate outing, # 9 on the Beaver course at the Breckenridge Golf Club, from the forward tee where the cart is my playing partner thins one, skips across the pond twice, hits the upper lip of the bunker and pops up rolling nicely into the hole.

And in an amazing coincidence after an early retirement I wound up working here as an Assistant Professional for 18 years. Nice gig for a second career. Finally retired for good two seasons ago. 

A few years back, my dad and I (both avid golfers) were playing with my brother in law (not an avid golfer) over the winter in Palm Springs, CA. Get to the fifth hole, it's about 180... Dad and I both hit decent shots onto the green... BIL yanks a hybrid into the hill on the left side of the green, takes a huge bounce right, and slowly makes its way towards the cup... IT'S IN THE HOLE.

Did we play 18? No. Did he buy drinks? Also, no. 

Did my grandmother, who lived on the course happen to have a large painting of the exact hole hanging in her house, which is now hanging in my sister's house in Idaho? Yes. 

Weird freaking day.