An amateur golfer in Australia has completed a feat that even the greatest professionals of all time could only dream of — hitting two hole-in-ones in a single round.
Jim Grant, 59 from Melbourne, was enjoying a Wednesday round of golf with his friends at the Green Acres Golf Club when he sunk the first on the par-three 11th.
Such an achievement comes with a probability of around 12,000-1, so when Grant made a second ace just six holes later, nobody could quite believe what they had witnessed.
“I actually got a hole in one last year for the first time ever which was a bit of fun,” Grant said. “But yesterday was a whole different level of fun.”
Grant has been playing golf “seriously” for around 15 years and has a handicap of 14, but as the amateur golfer explains, he wasn’t taking it all that seriously on this particular day.
“We had a loud shorts day, so we were all wearing some crazy shorts,” he said. “We were having a bit of fun with that.
“I got to the 11th which is a 140-150 metre par three with water and bunkers on both sides, so it’s a bit of a tricky green, and I hit an eight iron.
“The ball hit the green and started rolling towards the hole, and I thought: ‘gee, this is going to get close.”’
Indeed the ball sailed in, giving Grant his second ace in two years — but he wasn’t done there. Approaching the par-three 17th, he was more than happy to tempt fate.
“As I was about to address the ball, I said to the guys a bit cheekily: ‘what are the chances of getting two holes in one?’” said Grant.
The US’ National Hole-In-One Registry say the odds are 67 million to one, so when Grant struck the ball from the tee, he probably had a better chance of winning the lottery that day than making a second ace.
“I hit this five-iron and I saw the ball go into the hole,” he said. “I looked at the guys and said: ‘you don’t think that went in?”’
After searching around the green to see if the ball had simply rolled away, Grant was faced with the unlikely truth of the matter.
“I walked up to the hole and there was a ball nestled in the cup, smiling back at me so to speak,” he said.
It was at that stage that Grant’s friends began filming him to see if he could add another to his card. Having played the back nine first, there were 10 more holes to play, but try as he might he couldn’t add a third.
“You’ve never seen more disappointed guys because I hit the next two par three greens but alas didn’t go in,” said Grant.
On reflection, they’ll probably forgive him.
