Searching for that elusive ace

HOLE-IN-ONE CHALLENGEPhilip Reid watched as our five volunteers attempted to savour the thrill of recording a hole in one.

WE GATHERED them together on a cool evening in north Co Dublin, gave them 20 golf balls each, pointed them in the direction of the hole – located 140 yards away – and let them at it. We could have found an easier hole, but we wanted this to be a genuine challenge. So it was that the second hole at St Margaret’s Golf Country Club became the examination for our volunteers, ranging in age from a 10-year-old who’d already savoured the sweet thrill of recording an ace to one of the country’s top club professionals, a player who has gone toe-to-toe with a major champion.

What did we want from them? Simple. We wanted the impossible. We wanted one of them to hit a hole-in-one. Or, if not, to see just how close they could get to one. It proved to be an interesting experiment.

John Kelly, the head professional at St Margaret’s and one of the top players on the Irish PGA Region, who has competed in the European Tour’s flagship event the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, was one of those to put his neck on the line. But, then, he – more than most – is aware that a hole-in-one can be attained in the unlikeliest of circumstances.

Once upon a time, when caddying for Eamonn Brady on the Canadian Tour, Kelly came across a young, aspiring professional by the name of Jason Bohn. These days, Bohn is known as a very capable player on the US Tour – his win in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans earlier this season was his second career victory on tour – but, back then as a fledgling player on the Canadian and Nationwide Tours, the American was more famous for the manner in which he turned professional as a teenager in 1992. He recounted it all to Kelly as they trekked around a course in Canada and it only served to reinforce the belief that golf, more than soccer, is indeed a funny old game.

Bohn’s story is extraordinary for the fact that he entered a hole-in-one competition which had as its carrot a $1 million payday if anyone managed to actually have an ace. It was Halloween and Bohn prepared for the competition by dressing up in a Batman costume and going from party to party in search of Catwoman. He never found her.

The next day, Bohn turned up for his shot in a million. Lo and behold, his nine-iron tee-shot found the front of the green, took two hops and rolled into the cup. Bohn, who had intended attending college in Alabama, promptly gave up his amateur status and became an instant professional – and an instant millionaire, with the $1 million paid in 20 instalments of $50,000.

After he won the New Orleans Classic, a reporter brought up his famous hole-in-one story again. “How long did it take you to decide you wanted to turn pro?” he was asked. “Not as long as it took you to ask the question,” replied Bohn, who added: “That was a life-changer. I hope I’m 85 years old and people are asking me about that million dollar shot. I will never get sick and tired of talking about it.”

For sure, it is every golfer’s dream to record a hole-in-one. A number of years ago, Golf Digest asked Francis Scheid, the retired chairman of the maths department at Boston University, to calculate the odds of a player getting an ace. He came up with these calculations: 5,000 to 1 for a “low handicapper” and 12,000 to 1 for an “average player.” All of which, it must be said, put our odds on someone getting a hole-in-one during our little experiment – five players of all ages and standards hitting a total of 100 balls to a green fronted by a brook – at the extreme end of things.

Still, and despite the coolness of the evening, our volunteers took to the task with considerable enthusiasm. And why not? Four of them had actually achieved a hole-in-one at one point, the most recent holder of that distinction being the oldest of our quintet. Christy Loftus, all of 68 but obviously gaining encouragement from the exploits on tour of Tom Watson, achieved the hole-in-one on the ninth hole of his home course at Laytown and Bettystown. Although he noted that the days of buying drinks all round in the bar seemed to be a thing of the past. In his case, most of those in the clubhouse as he offered to buy a round settled for tea or coffee.

The youngest of our participants, 10-year-old David Duggan, is an old hand at this hole-in-one lark. He had his first ace on his home course at Highfield in Kildare when just nine years old, and – although selecting a three-wood as his club of choice for this attempt so that he took the brook out of play – the way he used the green as a dartboard was hugely impressive.

Kelly, our professional, has had three career holes-in-one – including one at the European Tour’s Q-School, for which he got nought except a congratulatory handshake from his marker on signing his card. And John Grant, a former Leinster interprovincial, had recorded two holes-in-one on his home course at The Island.

So, the only one of the five never to record a hole-in-one was Harry Cavanagh whose closest effort was to hit to within six inches on one occasion at his home course in Balcarrick. And, first off for this challenge, the Donegal native overcame a shaky start to literally pepper the flag as he got into the swing of things. His closest effort? One that finished 147 cm from the tin cup. “Not bad for someone who is half-blind and holds a bus pass,” quipped Cavanagh.

Indeed, the stats from our little experiment proved interesting: of the 100 balls hit, 57 per cent of them found the putting green which, in the circumstances with a hailstorm materialising from nowhere at one juncture, was a healthy average. And, each and every one of our players had a hold your breath moment as the ball ran towards the hole.

Unfortunately, no one managed to get a hole-in-one. And, as you’d expect, it was our professional John Kelly who finished closest. No fewer than 16 of his 20 shots found the putting surface, with the closest effort coming to rest a mere 19cm from the flag. Close, but not close enough. So, instead of handing over a million bucks, our players had to settle for Golf Masters polo shirts and a some golf balls.