"Hole in One"?

Hey All,

I was playing golf with a buddy a couple days ago. We were on a short par 3 and we both left our shots off the tee just short of the green. As there was no one behind us, we both took a second shot just for fun seeing as it was an interesting hole layout and a challenging hole to practice short game. I hit a beauty on my 2nd shot and rolled it a few inches past the cup.

Although, I didn't make the 2nd shot... it sparked an interesting conversation between us about the legitimacy of a "hole in one" while hitting a 2nd ball for fun/practice. I'm curious, has this happened to any of you? How do you feel about it and what do you tell people regarding the incident?

All the best!

Hole in one?  Of course not.

The actual correct answer, in terms of the rules, is that by playing the next shot from the tee box you abandoned your first ball under penalty of one stroke and put the 2d ball in play.  If it goes in, you just made an extremely difficult and improbable par!

The closest I've come to that came in a junior tournament when I was younger. Pulled my tee shot left, hit a tree and went out of bounds. Holed out the provisional for a par, but I don't consider it a hole in one. Just a long hole-out for par.

I think in that situation, I would be happy and think it was cool, but I wouldn't claim it. Especially when the playing partners started lobbying for free drinks.

Yea I agree. Personally, of course I wouldn't count it on my score and I wouldn't claim it legit. But man that would be frustrating to have that happen and not be able to claim the fame!

I've actually seen that happen TWICE.  Sadly, my brother-in-law has a hole-in-one plaque hanging on his wall as a result.

The 2d time I was with a buddy who started jumping up and down about his ace.  I corrected him and when I got back to the clubhouse, I ordered him the plaque, but had it inscribed to read "Hole-in-Three".  He's quite proud of it, and rightfully so.

It's not like anybody walks around town telling anyone who'll listen that they have made a hole in one (at least not after that day ;)) ... it only comes up when asked.  That said, I would assume that 99.9% of the time, it would go something like:

Q:  "So, have you ever made a hole in one?"

A:  "Well, sort of, but not technically.  I have holed out from the tee before on a par 3 but it was not my actual shot, so its not official."

Nobody's going to get their name on a plaque for that type of hole in one, and they probably aren't going to frame the ball either, but its still a feat worth mentioning.

I play in a charity scramble every year (when I'm not stuck going out of town for weddings) where, for the last couple of years, they have had a raffle for a hole-in-one to win $100,000 (might even be a million, but I don't remember).  They draw the raffle ticket prior to the round, and they walk the winner out to the fairway of the 18th hole at 160 yards, I think, with everybody watching, and if he makes it, he wins the money.  It's not "technically" a hole in one because its not during a round, but if I am drawn and sink the shot for the money, you better damn well believe I'm chalking that up as a hole in one.

EDIT:  Damnit David, I stand corrected (re: your brother-in-law, lol)

Exactly how I think of it. I actually do this for my first birdie I ever got.

I was playing with some guys that were much better than me who I had never met, just got paired up. Came to a par 3 over a pond and I got nervous and bladed my first shot right in the pond. I lined a second ball up, hit it within a foot of the hole and putted in. I counted it as a 4 on my card and qualify the story when it comes up, but I was still excited about the shot and getting "almost" a birdie.

I've had an ace - only one.  And it was pure - first swing off the tee and the ball never strayed from the flag in flight.  A small bounce; a short roll; and it disappeared.  I wish that joy upon every golfer.

I've never even THOUGHT about taking a second crack at the tee shot on a par-3 and considering it an ace.  It'd remove all the joy of the experience IMHO.  Quite the contrary, it'd probably add the frustration of knowing you had that shot 'in you', but failed to execute it when it counted.

The last time I remember playing a par 3 where this might come into play was a hole where most of the distance between the tee and the green was water.  I dunked the first, reteed, and dunked the second, then played a third from the tee.  Unfortunately the third, while dry was still not even on the green, much less anywhere near the hole.  I chipped up and two putted for smooth 8.

Fortunately, I do have 2 legitimate Aces, so I guess that having a hole like above is just entropy balancing the universe.