A touch of destiny…
Helped by playing off an arguably generous club handicap *cough* 23 *cough*, our intrepid golf ‘hero’ took a deep breath and faced up to the worst the 4th hole could throw at him in the medal this Sunday. Forget the out of bounds on the left, forget the bunker 140yards from the tee (for his second?), the deep wet rough and the enclosures… our Colin had a touch of destiny on him that day. This would have been a score of 6 in stableford!
Receiving two shot on this dubiously score indexed hole, Colin hefted a 6iron from his bag and prepared to take on the second shot.
I’ve asked Colin to submit a report about the shot…
I was standing on the 4th tee with a sense of dread, as my playing partners had hit one ball out of bounds on the left and the other two were way right amongst the new trees.
I had put my new Titleist ball in the water previously on the 3rd and still had my provisional ball, a Dunlop DDH clamped firmly in my left hand.
My trusty driver drawn and seeing an unused fairway in front of me, I miss hit the ball to the right just before the green bunker. I smiled at my 6 iron and aimed it at the right hand bunker. The ball bounced twice before the bunker and then headed towards the green, it rolled on and slowed and I bit my lip as it rolled again and headed towards the flag, my hand gripped my club and my mouth went dry as time slowed and the ball plopped home. YESSSSS, a 2 for 6 points I screamed – FANSTASTIC!
“It’s medal Colin” the course screams back.
Congratulations to Big Al G
Its also congratulations and well played to Al Gollop who won the Monthly Medal on Sunday with an excellent net 68, and has duly been served a healthy -1.2 cut in his handicap. Cracking score on a very wet and soggy course.
Condors
If asked, I would’ve said a net 4-under a hole would have been a double-albatross but apparently it is also a ‘condor’. More reserved for holes-in-one on shorter or dogleg par 5’s, or even a score of two on a rare par6… the scorers of golf clearly never expected our Colin to effectively score a net zero on a hole.
Renowned for bumpf, b8llocks and utter rubbish the Internet is never a reliable source… however for gross ‘Condors’ there have been a reported few…
Question: Has There Ever Been a Hole-in-One on a Par-5 Hole?Most holes-in-one come on par-3 holes, obviously. A few have even been scored on longer par-4 holes (making them double-eagles as well as aces). But has anyone ever aced a par-5 hole?Answer: Yes, it’s happened at least several times.
Since almost nobody – even with today’s supercharged equipment – can hit a 500-yard drive, the best place to look for par-5 aces are on those par-5 holes that are severe doglegs, or are even a bit horseshoe-shaped. On such holes, an intrepid long-hitter can attempt to cut a corner or clear trees or other hazards in order to go straight at the green, rather than playing around the dogleg in a normal fashion.
Holes-in-one on two such par-5s are known to have happened. One was even recorded with a 3-iron! That one was made by Shaun Lynch, playing at Teign Valley Golf Club in Christow, England, in 1995, on the 496-yard No. 17. According to a 2004 article in Golf World magazine, Lynch aimed straight toward the green on a horseshoe par-5, clearing a 20-foot-high hedge, then hitting a downslope on the other side. The downslope carried his ball to the green and into the cup.
The first-known ace of this nature occurred in 1962, according to the Golf World article. “Larry Bruce took his drive over a stand of scrawny pines on the 480-yard dogleg right par-5 fifth hole at Hope Country Club” in Arkansas, and found the cup.
But there’s also one hole-in-one known to have occurred on a straightaway par-5. This monster drive was achieved at altitude on the No. 9 hole at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in Denver in 2002. The shot was 517 yards in length, and the golfer who got the ace was Mike Crean. This ace is believed to be the longest ever recorded.
What is a hole-in-one on a par-5 called? “Condor” is sometimes recognized as the “proper” term, but triple-eagle and double-albatross are also correct.
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