Tag: aces

This LPGA player made her third ace of the season, co-leads at The Annika

Jiwon Jeon got to see it this time.

BELLEAIR, Fla. – Jiwon Jeon got to see it this time. In her first two aces of the season, she wasn’t able to watch the ball go into the hole. But the third time around, she was pretty sure she saw her ball drop from the tee on the par-3 third hole at Pelican Golf Club.

Maybe.

“So I was like, this one today I actually saw it going into the hole, but I wasn’t sure because it was pretty far, like 180 yards off the tee,” she said. “So I see some people raise their hands and I’m like, oh, is it actually going in or not?”

South Korea’s Jeon, 27, gave herself a five out of 10 on the celebration, noting that she did high-five everyone.

The ace helped vault Jeon to a share of first with Charley Hull at the 2024 The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican after a round of 6-under 64.

Jeon used a 5-hybrid for today’s ace at Pelican. Last month, she made an ace at the Buick LPGA Shanghai with a 5-iron. Her first hole-in-one of 2024 came in Portland with a well-struck 8-iron.

She becomes the first player since Danielle Kang in 2014 to make three aces in one season and the fourth overall.

Two years ago, Jeon made her first hole-in-one in a non-competition round.

With Thursday’s ace, CME Group will donate $20,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research. A total of $580,000 has gone to St. Jude this year, with $60,000 of it coming from Jeon’s fine play.

“Obviously I’m just inside top 100 right now, “ said Jeon, who sits 98th on the CME points list, “and then obviously I want to keep my card for next year, but I try not to think about it too much. I literally gave everything for last three days practice. I’m trying to figure out what I have to do out here and then really focus on like each shot.”

The top 100 players on the CME points list keep their cards.

Married pair each ace the same hole in the same round on the same day

You’ve read about all kinds of hole-in-one stories. This might be a new one.

You’ve read about all kinds of hole-in-one stories. This might be a new one: a married couple each aced the same hole in the same round.

Yea, it happened. Ann and Bill Gray were playing Capital Canyon Club in Prescott, Arizona, on July 10 when they got to the 16th hole during their afternoon round. That’s where the magic happened.

With two more golfers in their foursome as witnesses, the Grays celebrated their round in the best way possible, as each of them made an ace.

Capital Canyon Club is a private Tom Weiskopf design which has become kinda famous for producing aces.

The crew at Breaking Par featured the course a while back after ace after ace was recorded at the layout.

 

All the holes-in-one at Augusta National for the Masters

The 16th has had the most aces over the years.

In the history of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National, there have been 34 holes-in-one, the most recent coming in the 2022 edition of the event.

The fourth has just one ace ever.

The sixth has had six holes-in-one.

The most famous par 3 is the 12th, known as Golden Bell, and there have been just three aces there.

The 16th hole has recorded the most aces of any hole at Augusta National with 24.

Below is a list of all the aces.

In tournament history, five aces were made by amateurs, one was made by a golfer using a mashie niblick and one was made by a golfer using a spade mashie. (Bonus points if you know what those two clubs look like).

All the holes-in-one at the 16th hole at the WM Phoenix Open

There have been roughly 14,400 tee shots sent flying during tournament rounds at the par-3 16th hole.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It’s become a true bucket-list adventure in the world of sports for golfers and fans alike, as the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale is one of the most anticipated events during the week of the WM Phoenix Open.

The event was first played at the Stadium Course in 1987. Over the 36 years, there have been roughly 14,400 tee shots fired during tournament golf at the 140-or-so-yard hole, but there has been only 11 holes-in-one.

Yep, just 11.

The first happened in 1988. The latest was the final round of 2022.

The breakdown by round is:

  • first round: one
  • second round: one
  • third round: seven
  • final round: two

There have been two aces in the same week three different times: 1990, 1997 and 2022. There has never been two aces at 16 in the same round. A lefty has never made an ace there.

Here’s a closer look at all the holes-in-one on No. 16 at the Phoenix Open.

Arizona golfer defies the odds, makes two holes-in-one in same round

The National Hole-in-One Registry says the odds of making two aces in one round are 67 million-to-1.

The National Hole-in-One Registry has determined that the odds of making two aces in one round are 67 million-to-1.

Cliff Romme just defied those odds.

Playing Orange Tree Golf Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, the 77-year-old had two holes-in-one in a four-hole stretch during a recent round.

“It started off as probably my worst round in several weeks. I just could not keep the ball in the right spots,” Romme told Phoenix TV station Fox 10 about the inauspicious start to his day. But then came the par-3, 124-yard fourth hole.

After teeing off, he didn’t see it go in. In fact, as he approached the green, he had his wedge in his hands because he didn’t see his ball on the green. That’s when one of his playing partners told him “look in the hole,” Romme said. “And here it was.”

Three holes later was the par-3 seventh.

“I hit it again and the ball, it was another nice hit,” he said. “It felt good, it went up high, had a little bit of a draw, hit the green and rolled down the hill and right in hole.”

This time he kept his eyes, and ears, on the ball.

“Clunk. We could actually hear it,” he said. “I was a little numb. I couldn’t believe it.”

Orange Tree later gave him a red pin flag as a souvenir.

One of 40 in an area golf group dubbed “The Bogey Boys”, Romme did admit that he bought a lottery ticket on his way home, just in case there still some luck left in his day, but he struck out with that purchase.

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Golfer named Blade makes two aces in four holes, celebrates with dive into lake

This former baseball player only started playing golf about five years ago.

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Making a hole-in-one is pretty cool.

Getting two of them in the same round is crazy.

Having them come in a span of four holes is totally wild.

That’s just what happened to Blade Kurilich. Yep, Blade, that’s his real name. His club of choice for his pair of aces was a 9-iron.

“That club will be getting framed once I get a new set,” he joked after his round.

Kurilich was playing Sterling Grove Golf & Country Club in the Phoenix suburb of Surprise, Arizona, earlier this week with his regular crew. His first hole-in-one came on the third hole, where he did his best Michael Block PGA Championship impression.

“I hit just a stock 9-iron and actually dunked it straight in the hole on the fly,” he said. “I didn’t know it at the time but heard the pin rattle from the tee box. When I got up there I saw where the ball actually took a chunk out of the cup before I saw the ball in the hole.”

Four holes later, Kurilich was on the seventh tee box, again holding his 9-iron. The hole measured 172 yards but it was downwind.

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“I couldn’t see that one in either over the ridge. So for both hole-in-ones I had to check the cup to be certain,” he said.

The National Hole-in-One Registry reports that the odds of an average golfer making an ace are 12,000-to-1. Kurilich says he’s a +2.4 so the odds for a golfer like him is 5,000-to-1. But this two ace thing is the real longshot, as the odds of a player making two holes-in-one in the same round are 67 million to 1.

A former baseball player who only started playing about five years ago, Kurilich had never had a hole-in-one before he got these two.

Blade Kurilich
The scorecard for Blade Kurilich, who had two holes-in-one in a four-hole stretch at Sterling Grove Golf Club in Surprise, Arizona. (Photo: Blade Kurilich)

“After my second hole-in-one I had promised my buddy driving up to the green that if that one was in too, I’d dive in the lake,” he said. “Well I had to keep up on that promise and dove right in. My game went completely in the tank after that second one.”

Kurilich worked in finance in Denver but moved to Scottsdale recently with his fiancee to chase his dream of professional golf.

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Watch: Golf influencers Troy Mullins, Tania Tare each make two holes-in-one

The Ace Race show debuted on July 1 and will be televised on Bally Sports through August.

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Not one. Not two. Not three. How about four holes-in-one in one day?

Golf influencers Troy Mullins and Tania Tare did just that, with each making two aces at Indian Wells Golf Resort.

All the fun was captured on video by Breaking Par, an Arizona-based, syndicated golf TV show carried by Bally Sports affiliates across the country.

The series is called “Ace Race with Tania Tare”, a renowned trick-shot artist. Mullins is a long-drive competitor.

On this particular day on the par-3 16th hole, each golfer took aim from 140 yards out for about four hours. The contest ended once paying customers reached the hole.

Mullins was declared the winner after she hit the most balls inside a four-foot circle around the hole. In addition to bragging rights, she won a custom Phat Ride.

“Whether you’re a golfer or not, everyone knows how special a hole-in-one is, so being there to witness four aces is something I’ll never forget,” said Ryan Johnson, executive producer of Breaking Par.

The Ace Race show debuted on July 1 and will be televised on Bally Sports affiliates until Aug. 31, 2023.

Tare has a combined 588,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok; Mullins has more than 250,000 on the two social-media platforms.

Four players aced No. 6 on the same day in 1989 U.S. Open at Oak Hill, but there’s a major reason it won’t happen again at 2023 PGA Championship

Four aces on one day on the same hole was cool, but it certainly won’t happen again this year.

Here’s perhaps the safest bet for this week’s PGA Championship: Four players won’t make holes-in-one on the same day at No. 6 of Oak Hill’s East Course. Sounds like a silly bet, of course, but it happened during the second round of the 1989 U.S. Open on the East.

There’s no way that exact feat will reoccur in this year’s PGA Championship on the same layout, because that hole no longer exists.

In a two-hour span that morning in 1989, Doug Weaver, Mark Wiebe, Jerry Pate and Nick Price each made an ace on the 167-yard par 3. The hole wasn’t exactly in a bowl, but it was pretty close, having been cut into the base of a swale. None of the four holes-in-one flew into the cup, each instead landing left, right or beyond the flag then curling into the cup. Each player used a 7-iron.

An amazing occurrence, for sure. It had never happened before in major championship or PGA Tour golf. Before the round, tournament officials had noted that it was a likely spot for ace, and they ended up with four.

That hole isn’t on the course any longer, thanks to a recent renovation by architect Andrew Green to Donald Ross’s layout in Rochester, New York. That sixth hole from 1989 was created during a 1970s renovation to the course by George Fazio and Tom Fazio. Green ripped it out, instead installing a new par 3 as No. 5. Green’s new No. 6 is a punishing par 4 that plays over and along a creek, earning the name Double Trouble. The hole is listed on the scorecard at 503 yards.

Not that a repeat of what has been dubbed the “Four Aces” – not to be confused with the LIV team of the same name – was likely anyways. The PGA of America reports that the odds of any Tour player making an ace on a given par 3 are 3,000 to 1. The National Hole-in-One Association calculated at the time that the odds of four Tour pros acing the same hole in one day to be 8.7 million to one, although such a friendly hole location that allows balls to break into the cup from multiple directions surely improved those odds a bit.

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Golfer witnesses hole-in-one on three consecutive days at a California club (and even made an ace of his own)

Still waiting for your first ace? Play a round at Mesa Verde CC in California.

We’ve all had a similar thought standing over a tee shot on a par 3: “Maybe this is the one that goes in.”

It’s rare for an amateur golfer to make a hole-in-one, so much so that the odds are somewhere in the ballpark of 12,500 to 1. Last weekend at Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa, California, those odds were put to shame.

Not one, not two, but three holes-in-one were made in three consecutive days from Friday, Nov. 4 to Sunday, Nov. 6 at the club, and one man was there to witness all three. Dan Kelly aced the par-3 12th with a pitching wedge from 125 yards out on Sunday, and was also a player in both groups the previous two days, when Mike Abel aced the 165-yard par-3 3rd hole on Friday and Ken King aced the 12th on Saturday.

So if you’re like me and still waiting for your first ace, maybe try and get a round at Mesa Verde with Mr. Kelly.

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Watch: Two holes-in-one in rapid order find the cup at recently upgraded 19th hole of Payne’s Valley at Big Cedar Lodge

Check out the photos of the recently upgraded bonus hole beneath staggering cliffs, which now features a new waterfall and bar.

The most popular golf hole at Big Cedar Lodge isn’t even among the Missouri resort’s three traditional 18-hole courses or even its two par-3 courses. That distinction goes the 19th hole, a 112-yard bonus hole designed by Bass Pro Shops and Big Cedar founder Johnny Morris at the resort’s newest layout, Payne’s Valley.

Built into a pond beneath a stunning cliff wall featuring waterfalls, the bonus hole until recently had been aced 12 times since its introduction in September of 2020, when the Tiger Woods-designed Payne’s Valley opened with a name in tribute to Ozarks native Payne Stewart. But on August 18, that total was raised by two more holes-in-one in a matter of minutes.

Billye Hollister of Arlington, Virginia, made the first hole-in-one of the pair, and his group went suitably bonkers after his shot from the back tees found the cup toward the front-middle of the island green. The left-hander’s ball touched down just past the stick before one-hopping backward into the hole.

Just minutes later in a different group, Susan Stevens of Augusta, Georgia, jarred her tee shot from the front tee box, the ball bouncing twice before rolling into the cup as gently as a putt.

It’s an amazing setting for a 19th hole, and the resort has made significant upgrades since the par 3 opened two years ago. A bar was recently built near the tee, and a new waterfall feature was added to the cliff wall atop which sits the clubhouse and cabins. Check out the photos below.

Susan Stevens and Billye Hollister after their holes-in-one at the bonus 19h hole at Payne’s Valley at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri (Courtesy of Big Cedar Lodge)

Big Cedar is home to three of the top four courses in Missouri, as judged by Golfweek’s Best rating of public-access courses for each state. Ozarks National, designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, ranks No. 1 on that list, followed by the Tom-Fazio designed Buffalo Ridge at No. 2 and Payne’s Valley at No. 4. The resort also boasts the Top of the Rock and Mountain Top par-3 courses among dozens of other attractions that include everything from fishing to go-cart racing for kids.