Tag: hole-in-one

This PGA Tour player dropped his club in disgust after his tee shot, then laughed as he made an ace at Rocket Mortgage

He said “that’s embarrassing,” after his tee shot on par-3 hole No. 11 at the Detroit Golf Club on Thursday.

Mark Hubbard dropped his club in disgust and said “that’s embarrassing,” after his tee shot on par-3 hole No. 11 at the Detroit Golf Club on Thursday.

Not long after, he was covering his mouth in awe as he sunk a hole-in-one during the first round of the 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic.

The ace moved Hubbard to 3 under par through 11 holes, a few shots off the lead at the time.

Hubbard, 33, previously made aces at the 2014 Frys.com Open and the 2019 Nashville Golf Open. Both Korn Ferry Tour events were steps to him gaining PGA Tour membership for the subsequent season.

 

Hubbard boasts a Korn Ferry Tour win at the 2019 LECOM Suncoast Classic and a 2013 Wildfire Invitational victory on PGA Tour Canada, but he has never won a PGA Tour event.

His best finishes this year came at the Barbasol Championship and the Barracuda Championship, where he placed third and fourth, respectively. He also held a share of the 18-hole lead at Club Car Championship but finished tied for ninth.

Live updates: Rocket Mortgage Classic live leaderboard and first-round updates from our friends at the Detroit Free Press

Hubbard wasn’t the only player peppering the front pin at No. 11. Tommy Gainey had his tee shot lip out earlier in the morning.

Contact Mason Young: MEYoung@freepress.com Follow him on Twitter: @Mason_Young_0

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Amputee Jeremy Bittner records first ace at inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst No. 6

Jeremy Bittner picked a fine time for his first ace.

VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, N.C. – Jeremy Bittner picked a fine time for his first ace. The 33-year-old from Moon Township, Pennsylvania, took a little off a 6-iron on the par-3 fourth hole at Pinehurst No. 6. The number on the laser was 187, downhill but into the wind.

Bittner’s ace is the first in championship history at the U.S. Adaptive Open. He donated the ball to the USGA Museum.

“When it disappeared, I was actually like, oh, no, what happened,” said Bittner, “and then everybody started screaming and I was like, oh, that was a good thing.

“For the next 10 minutes I was shaking.”

Bittner lost his lower left leg in a lawnmower accident when he was 4 years old. There are 33 players in the field of 96 competing in the leg impairment category. There are eight multiple limb amputees.

Players this week are competing from four different yardages ranging from 6,500 to 4,700. Men in the leg impairment category play the blue tees from 6,500 yards. Bittner shot 86-78 in the first two rounds and is in a share of 26th at 20 over.

South Korea’s Simon Lee is the only player under par at 2 under. He holds a two-shot lead over Felix Norman of Sweden. Both players are in intellectual impairment category.

“I didn’t have the strongest finish I’d like,” said Bittner, “but like you said, it’s a core memory that is going to stick with me no matter what the score was.”

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Watch: With one swing, Jordan Smith won he and his caddie new cars at 2022 Genesis Scottish Open

Watch how one swing helped Jordan Smith and his caddie win new cars.

It’s not every day you see a hole-in-one at the golf course. It’s even harder to witness one that comes with it a couple large gifts.

That’s what happened Friday during the second round of the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland. England’s Jordan Smith stepped onto the 17th tee box on a 193-yard par-3 with a simple caveat.

Make a hole-in-one, win new cars for both he and his caddie.

That’s exactly what he did.

Green’s tee shot landed at the front of the green before using the slope to funnel to the front left pin position. The ball continued shuffling towards the hole before tumbling in the back side of the cup.

The ace won Smith, who’s 122nd in the Official World Golf Ranking, a Genesis electric GV70, a luxury midsized SUV while his caddie won a Genesis GV60, an electric crossover.

Genesis Scottish Open: Leaderboard | PGA Tour live on ESPN+

The ace came on Smith’s penultimate hole, helping him card a 1-under 69 in his second round. He’s well inside the projected cut line, sitting at 3-under for the tournament and tied for eighth with the afternoon wave still to play.

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Annika Sorenstam’s 11-year-old son just made a hole-in-one at Pinehurst

Will Sorenstam, the 11-year-old son of Annika Sorenstam, aced the No. 5 hole on The Cradle.

The golf ball didn’t fall far from the tee.

Will Sorenstam, the 11-year-old son of legendary golfer Annika Sorenstam, aced the No. 5 hole and shot 24 on The Cradle, a nine-hole par-3 course at Pinehurst on Wednesday.

Will and his sister Ava returned to the short course after playing it as a family, with Mom included, on Tuesday.

Annika’s husband Mike McGee share the news of his son’s hole-in-one with a tweet that read: “My man!! While we were practicing, he aced the 5th at #thecradle.”

Annika Sorenstam told members of the media during a speech at Pine Needles before the premiere of her “Becoming Annika” documentary film that she and Will shared a special connection on the course.

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Georgia senior Trent Phillips finally sees a hole-in-one go in, this time at the 2022 NCAA Championship

The ace is the second of Phillips’ career, but he never saw the first one go in.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Trent Phillips wrote a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 on his scorecard Saturday in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Div. I Men’s Golf Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club.

We’ll call that a desert golf six-pack.

The senior from Inman, South Carolina, sits T-18 at 3 over after rounds of 71-72 to start his final quest for a national championship. Phillips made the first hole-in-one of the tournament on Saturday with his ace on the 230-yard par-3 13th.

”It was pretty electric,” said Phillips of his second career hole-in-one. “It was a full 6-iron, I hit hard, it looked good all the way, and it went in. I could see it go in and then I saw all the people going crazy. It was a great feeling.”

Scores: Team | Individual

Seeing the ball go in was important for Phillips, since he never saw his first ace drop. In a Q&A on the Georgia website, Phillips told the unique story of his first hole-in-one:

Q: Have you ever had a hole-in-one? If so, can you tell me about your first one?

Phillips: I know it’s going to sound weird but I think I’ve had one. That sounds really weird.

It was in high school and we were playing a practice round for our state championship at Furman. I hit this 7-iron and it never left the (flagstick), and I just never saw it. It literally went right over the top of the flag and I’m thinking, ‘There’s a hazard back there.’ I’m thinking, ‘Did I fly the green?’ I go over the green and look in the hazard, and then I go look in the hole. And there’s a ball in the hole.

I think I flew it in and didn’t see it.

If a ball goes in the hole and nobody sees it, did it really happen?

Phillips is a finalist for the Haskins Award – given annually to the men’s college golfer of the year – after his win at the Williams Cup, a pair of runner-up finishes at the Carmel Cup and Linger Longer Invitational and a pair of fourth-place finishes at the Puerto Rico Classic and Calusa Cup. The senior ended his spring by finishing fifth at the SEC Championship and 12th at the NCAA Bryan Regional.

His Bulldogs sit T-10 at 23 over with a cut to the top 15 teams awaiting after Sunday’s third round.

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Pair of aces: A Patti and a Patty each made a hole-in-one in the same round in Arizona

Playing together, Patti Thompson and Patty Southwick each made an ace.

Hole-in-one stories are always fun. This is another good one.

The Troon North Women’s Golf Association played its final event of the season Thursday in Scottsdale, Arizona.

One of the foursomes included Patti Thompson and Patty Southwick. When the group got to No. 7 of Troon North’s Monument course, Thompson pulled out her new 6-hybrid and sent her ball flying on the 115-yard hole. Seconds later, the ball was in the cup for an ace.

Six holes later, Southwick – sporting her Masters visor – hit her 4-hybrid from 128 yards and also found the hole.

Two aces, same round, similar first names. Quite a day for the duo.

The National Hole-In-One Registry reports that only 16 percent of aces reported are made by women.

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Robert MacIntyre looked disgusted with his tee shot on the par-3 14th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, then it went in for an ace

Just once it’d be nice if this happened to me.

AVONDALE, La. — We’ve all been there. You hit a shot, look where it’s going, then hang your head in disgust as it flies miles from your target. But when you get up to the ball, it’s 100 times better than expected.

Well, Robert MacIntyre had this happen to him Thursday at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, but on another level.

On the par-3 14th at TPC Louisiana, the Scottsman hit his tee shot and immediately looked displeased. He hung his head and walked over to his bag. To his credit, the ball did land several yards before the green.

Then it got a hop. Then it kept rolling. Then it found the bottom of the cup.

When the camera panned back to the tee, MacIntyre looked borderline confused.

Then elation set in.

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Brian Harman witnessed the two most amazing aces in golf this year in Scottsdale, Augusta National

Brian Harman: “I’ve been watching a lot of holes-in-one lately.”

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Brian Harman’s second round at the 2022 Masters on Friday started on a spectacular note.

He holed out from the right bunker for an eagle 3 on the 575-yard, par-5 second hole. That shot, per Masters tradition, earned him a pair of Crystal Glasses.

However, it wasn’t enough to get Harman to the weekend, as his scores of 74 and 75 kept him one stroke from making the cut.

Along the way, though, Harman was witness to a hole-in-one. On the 16th hole, playing partner Stewart Cink made an ace at the par-3, 170 yard hole. He did it on his son/caddie Reagan’s 24th birthday. It was the 24th ace in Masters history at the 16th, and the sixth for Cink in his PGA Tour career.

Harman witnessed another, much more raucous, hole-in-one earlier this season at TPC Scottsdale.

It also happened on the 16th hole at the wet and wild WM Phoenix Open. You remember that one: Sam Ryder’s Saturday ace ignited a beer-can launch sequence that would certainly never happen at Augusta National.

In Phoenix, Harman was next to hit but had to wait about 15 minutes for the grounds crew to pick up the thousands of aluminum beer cans and bottles.

“The rules official asked me if I wanted to hit with all the beer cans out there,” he said. “I declined and asked them to go clean it up.”

At Augusta, Harman said: “I was there in Phoenix for that shot Sam hit. I’ve been watching a lot of holes-in-one lately.”

Dennis Knight of  the Savannah Morning News contributed to this article.

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Watch: Stewart Cink masterfully uses slope on No. 16, makes hole-in-one

Cink, playing in his 20th Masters, struck an 8-iron and then enjoyed watching a magical moment.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Drinks are on Stewart Cink this evening.

The 48-year-old Cink made an ace at the par-3, 170 yard 16th hole at Augusta National.

Cink, playing in his 20th Masters, struck an 8-iron and then enjoyed watching a magical moment.

He already had started walking to the green after his ball landed some 30 feet right of the hole.

“Come on down,” patrons at the green can be heard pleading.

The ball did just that, catching the slope and as if pulled by a magnet funneling down the hill and into the right side of the cup for an ace.

Cink lifted both arms in the air and hugged his caddie, his son, Reagan. Then father and son slapped both hands. Fellow competitor Harry Higgs came over for a hug too, while the third member of the grouping, Brian Harman, settled for a congratulatory knock of the knuckles.

It was the 24th ace in Masters history at 16, and the sixth career hole-in-one for Cink in his PGA Tour career. That’s tied for the eighth-most aces on Tour since 1983 when hole-by-hole tracking started.

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Watch: Max Homa’s first PGA Tour ace highlights wild ride on back nine at Bay Hill; fans will get tickets for 2023

Max Homa picked a fine time to sink his first ace on the PGA Tour.

There’s no need to roast this swing.

Max Homa picked a fine time to sink his first ace on the PGA Tour. After a turbulent stretch that saw Homa post a double bogey, then a birdie, then a bogey, the three-time PGA Tour winner rolled in his tee shot on the 14th hole during Saturday’s third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club and Lodge.

With a stiff breeze in his face, Homa stepped to the tee box with the stick 163 yards away and hit one that landed softly on the front of the green, rolled toward the flag and nestled into the cup.

The California native followed with a little dance and a smile before his caddie, Joe Greiner, came in for a hug.

The wild ride continued after 14 — Homa birdied No. 16 then posted bogeys on 17 and 18 to finish the day with a 73. He sits at 1 over for the tournament.

API: Leaderboard | Photos | PGA Tour Live on ESPN+

In honor of the ace, Mastercard will donate $200,000 to the Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation. Also, those who were watching in the Palmer Patio certainly were happy to see the ball roll in. The tournament’s chief sponsor will provide tournament fans who purchased tickets to that area on the 14th hole for Saturday’s round with two grounds passes to the 2023 event.

Although it’s Homa’s first hole-in-one on Tour, it was the sixth ace on No. 14 in tournament history, including two last season — one from Kris Ventura and another from Jazz Janewattananond.

Here’s a look at the hole via drone from our videographer, Gabe Gudgel: