Ace #1; Hole #2 of a 9-hole par three. I hit the tee shot, then quickly ducked when someone teeing off 1 yells "Fore!!" Never saw it go in.

Ace #2; Hole #10, Gorge Vale (home course), 155 yds, 7i, over water and into a breeze. Very high bright sun, green appears baked yellow. No one in the group sees the shot, too much reflection. Guy standing way to the right, on the practice green, runs over to give us the news. First time ringing the bell in our clubhouse.

Ace #3, Hole #16, Gorge Vale, 150 yds, uphill (we are blind to the green), into a very cool wind. Another 7i. We didn't see anything, but the group teeing off 17 saw it roll in. I'd said something annoying to my wife on 15. She was still peeved. Enough so she didn't even say, "nice shot ". I get to ring the bell again. A regular, enjoying his free beer, wonders if I hit the right club, since I'm such a long hitter, and it was only 150 to the flag...I consider the obvious retort, but he is huge, intoxicated, and might be serious.

2nd hole of a 36 hole county amateur championship. 8 iron from like 150 or something. Couldn't see the ball go in because the pin was over a bunker, but a guy was standing near the green and raised his arms so we knew it was in from the tee. I was paired with a buddy of mine who had an interesting sense of humor. After the guy raised his arms my friend said "if that went in I'll let you butt **** me...." I didn't take him up on that, and I also proceeded to play like crap for the rest of the tournament and not make a single birdie.

At Methodist College (now University?), part of the PGM (Professional Golf Management) program with about 300 kids all trying to be pros. They have one of the best Division 3 teams in the country due to the circumstances.

Me and a non-golf-team buddy playing against two of the golf team members in Four Ball (Best ball match play) just for dinner cuz we're all broke college kids. A lot of the local courses let us play for free or a very small fee, so we traveled around and played as much as we could even though we had a course on campus that was free to play for PGM students as part of the program. Anyway, we're two down with two to play. Short 110 yard par 3 with a small creek in front. Villains are up. First one puts it to about 6 or 7 feet. Next guy's shot is right at the stick. It bounces once, hits the pin and drops to about 5 inches away. They high five each other knowing the match is sealed up and start talking about where we're all going to eat.

My partner goes next. Takes a few more practice swings than usual. He addresses the ball and pulls the trigger. CHUNK. He hits like two full inches behind the ball, flinging forward one of the biggest divots I've ever seen, and his ball lands right in the middle of the small creek. Our opponents bust out laughing as my partner yells some expletives.

While the golf team guys are still laughing, I quickly drop a ball and hit my shot without making a practice swing. It's straight at the pin. It bounces once, checks up, and rolls right into the hole. All I can remember is the laughing go silent and one of the opponents saying "Jesus ****ing christ" in such an 'air out of the balloon' deflated manner. It was sweet sweet moment of victory, even if it was only temporary as we promptly lost the next hole.

Only 1, at the Vineyard in San Diego county. short par 3 pin cut right over water, was worried it was wet cleared by a yard then hopped forward 2 yards and straight in. This was in 2002 still waiting for #2.

Lol nice

Cool thread and great stories, guys.

No aces for me. Never really even sniffed one. Shrug

No aces for me, but a weird sets of close calls. Playing the Heathlands course outside of the gta, my last round of the year. Pin is cut front right on the final par 3. I hit this beautiful piercing draw right at the pin that stops about a foot short of going in. Next spring the Heathlands is my first round of the year and I find the pin in the exact same spot as the fall before. I hit an exact replica shot that also stops a foot short of going in. Fml

First one - freshman in high school. Like 120 yards uphill with a PW. Didn't see it go in but walking up to the green the guys on the next tee were clapping so had a pretty good idea.

2nd one - This past August. 17th hole at my club. 168 yards a bit down hill. Pure 8 iron hits about 10 feet behind the hole, spins back in and drops like a putt. Was good for like $1100 shop credit too thanks to hole in 1 club.

Wow, sucks for you guys not to get to watch them go in. That's the best part.

Played golf for 12 years and only could scare the hole and then got 2 in one year and another one the year after.

Ace #1 - 3 man best shot tourney last hole for our group. 138y hit 9 iron that landed past the hole about 3 feet and spun back right in. We won the tourney by 3 shots, so it didn't matter, but was still sweet.

Ace #2 - 168y into the wind. Hit a low 6 iron with a perfect baby draw that landed 15 feet short and rolled in at perfect speed.

Ace #3 (my favorite) - Playing in a singles tourney with a friend from work. On #3, a 135y par 3 he lands a 9 iron 5 feet short and rolls it in perfect speed. He didn't see it go in, but the rest of us saw it. There's a skin baby! 4 holes later on #7, a 166y par 3, I dunk a 7 iron that landed a few feet short and rolled right in the middle. Skin for me! 2 aces from the same foursome in the same round in a tournament. The odds are over a million to one if I remember right.

Never had one. Witnessed at least six, maybe more.

6 aces, only saw 2 go in, the lone tournament ace is the most memorable.

Girlfriend at the time who enjoyed the golf course had always said if she ever saw me make an ace she'd blow me on the spot. So during the last nine of a mini-tour event while she was following I dunk a 4-iron from 200. Both my playing competitors, as well as me and my girlfriend see it go in. No reaction from me other than silently point towards her. She is confused. After 5 or so seconds it hits her. She vigorously shakes her head no as she looks for somewhere to hide. The others are wondering what is going on. I yell at her "you promised!" She says nothing. The others ask what the deal is. I loudly tell them what she promised. Her face turns beet red. The guys start cheering and egging her on, pointing out the bathroom conveniently located behind the green.

She didn't follow through, a fact I hold against her to this day.

I did cash in the tournament though.

never had one. never seen one...my 72 year old mom got one last year, tho.

Weird "almost:"

Played the same course two days in a row...landed a ball on a par 3 on the green about 15 feet from the pin - but directly on another hole placement. The next day, the pin is actually in that hole placement, but this time, I stop the ball directly on the previous day's hole placement!

Annoying.

Torrey Pines North Course #17, 6-iron. Wasn't even that well struck; just one of those lucky moments. Bought the rest of my foursome, none of whom I had met previously, lunch in celebration. I recall them being more excited than I was by the event.

Incidentally, during the same round I had hit a wedge to inches on the previous hole for birdie and then birdied the par 5 #18 for a 73, which was at the time my best-ever round. I was so excited that I went out and played the same course the next morning and just missed holing out on #6 by inches (landed behind the hole and spun back, just missing and stopping a couple inches from the hole). After that the magic faded away.

Not holes in one but holed out a 5-iron on #15 of TP North from 175 yards for eagle on Thanksgiving day back in 2002, which I consider to be a better shot than the one above because that one was perfectly struck and tracked the hole the entire way, landing gently and rolling softly into the hole. Also did the same on #9 with a 9-iron for eagle. That course has been good to me.

Have one additional hole-in-one from about 125 with a wedge, but I can't remember the name of the course. Also a few under 100 yards at pitch-and-putt courses, but don't consider those official.

9th hole at my home course, but it was on winter tees/greens. It still counted for the insurance payout for the bar though as it was in a club competition!

The weird thing though was that 3 of us did it in the space of two weekends that year, all in winter league competitions (probably nearly 15 years ago) and it took until last year until someone else from our club did it again.

Even weirder, the same guy marked the cards of the other two guys on consecutive weekends!

I've seen two others at my home course too, one of which the guy who made it didn't see it go in because he turned away in disgust because he thinned it!

My only hole in one came during a front 9 where I shot 30 (-6) with a penalty stroke on the 8th hole which is a par 5. (still my best 9 hole score by 2 strokes iirc)

~175 to a three tiered green with the pin up front. Hit a choke down 6 iron and it came back off the slope and went in. We didn't see it drop because it's an uphill shot but we did hear a click sound so we knew the ball at least hit the pin. Got up there and sure enough it was in the hole.

That happened about 2 years after I picked up the game in high school. It's been about 15 years since then and I'm still looking for my second ace.

I've never had one.

My friend that I play a lot of golf with is a true character. He has a thick Newfoundland accent and is one of the funniest people I know. He takes 2 or 3 mulligans and a couple of free drops every round to have a 10 handi cap. He gets mad at me for not taking mulligans and foot wedges because I make him look bad. About once a summer he catches fire and shoots a true 75 with beautifully hit balls. I have no idea where it comes from. Most of the time he is all over the place. He has a habit of chunking chip shots and yelling at his ball as it worms its way into the hole. You know he has made a good putt if he hits the ball and start calling himself an "idiot". If he likes the putt you know it missed by 10 feet.

3 years ago, Paul was having one of his good days. We get to 17 (140 yard par 3) and paul is something like 5 or 6 over and playing lights out. Paul steps up and thins it bad. Its a line drive with a 7 iron that flies 1/2 way to the green and stars rolling and bouncing. Pauls yelling at himself about what an idiot he is and how he is taking a mulligan because the f'ing tee box is not level. Sure enough the ball rolls and bounces its way onto the green and straight at the hole.

Suddenly Paul start yelling at the ball. "Noooo, don't go in you stupid ball." He's begging the ball to stop. Its mens night and if you get a hole in one, your buying beer the for 50 or 60 people in the club house. Pauls unemployed and can't afford the beer. Sure enough the ball hits the pin and drops in. Paul's cursing and swearing about how unlucky he is. We are all laughing so hard we can hardly stand up. Pauls trying to bribe us to keep our mouths shut.

lol that is good stuff there.

Like OP my only HIO I didn't see go in, green slightly elevated, early morning round, pin in shadows ~180 par 3.

Had an "unofficial" one on a ~150 yard par three, 2nd hole at a course I worked at, but we teed off at ~8:30 p.m, just to play the 1,2, 9, "loop".

Same course, 18th ~220, I hit my tee shot, slicing near o.b.. Tee up a provisional, hit the shot, don't even watch it, I'm so disgusted with the first one. Two ladies on the green who had waved us up, start dancing around. I never saw it go in. But my initial tee shot was in bounds by about 6 inches anyway.

Had 3 other hole outs from fw. One was over the corner of a dogleg, ~160 never saw it go in. Walking around the green looking for my ball, finally for "a joke" look in the hole. Holed a ~60 yard for eagle on a p5.

Holed a ~50 yard 2 on a short p4 enroute to my second best career round. One of those "what if / weird" rounds. 2 eagles, and 2 doubles to shoot -3

My only hole-in-one came at a 155 yd 17th hole at my home club. I was playing with my good friends and one of them is the teaching pro. It was getting dark, and three of us were uncertain if the ball went in the hole. My pro friend was not. He was so sure it went in the hole, he drove his cart ahead of us (we were walking), took my ball out of the hole, came back to us 50 yards short of the green and threw it to me to prove that he was right.

Thanks buddy.

Hole 6, 121y, 52* wedge. Short par 3 with a pretty severe slope back-to-front. Woods on either side. The teebox was redone at some point fairly recently, and the ground didn't really settle correctly so it pretty uneven. To top that, it was getting sort of late in the season, so a narrow entry was made even more narrow with overhanging branches and leaves. Pretty much need to tee it up all the way to the left.

I showed up to the course after work as a single, and was just there to get an evening 9 in. Joined up with an 83 year old man that I'd never met before, and despite a 65 year age difference, we made pretty good chatter because play was slow af for some reason. At one point over the first couple holes, he had mentioned that he had been golfing for 70 years, and never had or witnessed a hole in one.

Fast forward to hole 6. It was still bright enough to play, but it was definitely getting darker. Overhanging trees obviously blocked some of whatever light was left too, but I had played the hole 100 times that year and could still see the flag so whatever.

I hit that ball pure, and despite not being able to see it in the dusky sky, I said out loud "Oh man, get in the ****ing hole." I heard it land, and was pretty sure I could hear it hit the pin shortly afterwards. "Pretty sure that's in the hole Prowse" I said to the guy I was playing with. All but confirmed when a guy from the next group walked down from the tee to give me a thumbs up.

Slow play obviously turned slower, since I didn't have to hit any shots, so we just stood around on the next tee for a few minutes. When it was finally time to tee off on 7, I promptly drove one directly in to the woods. As I was loading up a provisional, I realized that the ball that I just duckhooked in to the thick mosquito-filled woods was the ball I had just aced the previous hole with. Spent a good 10 minutes searching for that one, and didn't feel at all bad about it, but I found it.

I was only 17 or 18, so I couldn't even buy beers or anything.

I don't know if I could explain to anyone why, but this would make me LIVID.

The rest of us were completely dumbfounded. Every time we get to the tee box (about three times a week), we still shake our heads.

I kept the story short and sweet. If I developed the characters more, you would be MORE LIVID.

Feel free to "develop"

I wouldn't be too surprised if a 25-30 hdcp / once-a-month/ once-a-year golfer did something like that, but a teaching pro ?

Please develop!

This reminds me of a story a few decades back where I had gotten off work early and was getting in nine on my way home at a rural country club--"country" being the applicable word. A friend of mine once stated, "This isn't a country club. It's a club in the country!" I was walking and the club pro, who was a "shady" young guy who was only there a couple of years, drove up when I was on #6 and said he'd play in with me. Fine. He didn't invite me to throw my bag on his cart. *******!

#7 is 110-yd very uphill. We hit our tee shots and he hit one we knew was going to be close. He hops in his cart and takes off. As I'm about halfway up the hill, he bends down, straightens up holding his ball for me to look at, and said "I wanted you to witness my hole-in-one." All I witnessed was an ******* holding a ball up and claiming to have made one. I will never believe that ball went in the hole even though I have no explanation for why any golfer would pull that ****.

three more stories

about 25 yrs ago, when i first began playing, at a par 3 learning course. golfing with three elderlies, one of whom loves to 'teach'. he says "this is how you play this hole. take your 9i, and run it up the right. " he smacks a ground ball into the banking right side of this 89 yd uphill hole. bounding bounding bounding, and in.

my wife and i are in Christchurch to watch her hero, Lydia Ko, at the NZLD Women's Open. we get in a morning round at a local course in the hills above town. it is really cold, the course is in rough shape, overgrown foliage crowding out the sight-lines, slow group in front (who cut us on 10 !!), aggro group behind thinks we are the problem, i am one-handing all my putts, just get me off this donkey track. we get to 17, a long par 3. i shank one into the woods. she pures a three wood, skid, bounce, in. her first and only. morning saved.

our home course again, #5 is over water and into the prevailing. she dumps one into the pond guarding the front. she swears, loudly, tosses a ball at her feet, takes an angry swipe, and it flies directly in for a Freddie-par.