How rare is a hole in one?

FRIDAY, APR. 27: Have you ever wondered what the odds are of hitting a hole in one?

Despite the seemingly improbable odds that a person can hit a golf ball into a hole in one shot from at least 150 yards, it happens all the time. And while the Internet provides information on anything and everything you could possibly imagine.

Most of the quoted odds for an amateur making a hole in one are wildly off. For example, I’ve seen odds ranging from 10,000 to 1 all the way up to 100,000 to 1.

The odds of an amateur golfer making a hole in one on a par 3 hole are roughly 12,500 to 1. Furthermore, the odds of a professional golfer making a hole in one on a par 3 hole are closer to 2,500 to 1.

Some golfers play for years without shooting a hole in one, while others manage to do it at an early age. The youngest player was barely out of diapers when he shot his first hole in one.

Jake Paine was just three years old when he made his on a 65 yard hole in Lake Forest, California.

The oldest player is Harold Stilson, from Boca Raton, Florida. He was 101 years old when he aced the 108 yard 16th hole with a four iron at the Deerfield Country Club on May 16, 2001.

Most hole in ones

Norman Manley, of California, holds the record for most hole in ones with 59. Manley shot his first hole in one in 1964 and aced four holes in 1979.

Famous first hole In ones

Tiger Woods was six years old when he hit his first one. Michelle Wie has had six hole in ones in her short golfing career. Wie shot her first ace when she was 12.

On Good Friday this year, one of my members, Alex Withers-Clarke, 9, got a hole in one. Alex was handed a plastic set of clubs when his family moved to Bermuda when he was 13 months old.

By 18 months he had blown through several sets and as he was a clear lefty we got him a proper set.

His instructor is Cornell Bean. He got his ace on the 8th at Tucker’s Point with his driver off the reds. His actual score for the round was 100. He started Bermuda Junior Golf Association at age 8 and is currently in the red 9 hole group.

Over the years here, he has won the Adult/Junior three times. Additionally, he has won the Family Championship twice. 

I had some success this week too, not quite a hole in one, but a very rare bird indeed, the albatross, which is a 2 on a par 5 or a 1 on a par 3.

On Wednesday I got my first albatross on #7 at Tucker’s Point, and it only took me 30 years of playing golf to get it.

Paul Adams is the PGA director of golf at Rosewood Tucker’s Point.