This game just isn't fair......

[Mordan]

Yesterday I was playing a short par 3, around 115 meters up hill where you don't really want to go past the hole so I tried to take a bit off a PW and instead caught it a groove or so thin and it went out a bit low and lacking spin. Landed about 12 feet short of the pin, bounced forward and smacked into the pin. It didn't drop and instead bounced to a couple of feet away.

At the time I was kind of glad it didn't go in, as that's hardly a great story for your first hole in one although reading some of the stories above I'm beginning to think that you should happily take any hole in one you can get no matter how it comes about.

[David in FL]

Originally Posted by Mordan

Yesterday I was playing a short par 3, around 115 meters up hill where you don't really want to go past the hole so I tried to take a bit off a PW and instead caught it a groove or so thin and it went out a bit low and lacking spin. Landed about 12 feet short of the pin, bounced forward and smacked into the pin. It didn't drop and instead bounced to a couple of feet away.

At the time I was kind of glad it didn't go in, as that's hardly a great story for your first hole in one although reading some of the stories above I'm beginning to think that you should happily take any hole in one you can get no matter how it comes about.

LOL.  I've thought that too.....boy, it'd be cruddy to get an ace with a really poor shot or in the midst of a horrible round.  But then, you reflect on stuff like this and realize that lightening, at least for a lot of us, just doesn't strike all that often......and may not even strike at all!

[PirateJim]

Birdies are something skillful golfers can expect to earn far more often than those less skilled players.  Holes-in-one, on the other hand, aren't earned, they're stumbled into by pure dumb luck like the lottery.  My father was an avid golfer for many years and carried a low single digit handicap to his grave at 76, but my mother who struggled to break 100 was the one with an Ace trophy on the mantle.

I would suggest that golf IS fair.  Like all activities that have a significant physical component, natural inclination plays a part, but how hard and how smart you as an individual work at it really dictates how well you play.  But there remains an element of dumb luck that rears its head.  Sometimes Lady Luck smiles and a crappy golfer like me has something great happen.  Sometimes she gets an evil grin and a really good golfer's perfectly executed lay-up shot hits a sprinkler head and bounces on into the drink.  Lady Luck doesn't care about handicap index.

[k-troop]

Originally Posted by Mordan

At the time I was kind of glad it didn't go in, as that's hardly a great story for your first hole in one although reading some of the stories above I'm beginning to think that you should happily take any hole in one you can get no matter how it comes about.

Originally Posted by David in FL

LOL.  I've thought that too.....boy, it'd be cruddy to get an ace with a really poor shot...

First Ace I ever witnessed was in a highschool tournament.  Guy blade-hooked an 8-iron over the green left.  The ball hit a tree, bounced back onto the back of the green, rolled all the way to the front of the green and went in the hole.  I'll never forget it.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by PirateJim

Birdies are something skillful golfers can expect to earn far more often than those less skilled players.  Holes-in-one, on the other hand, aren't earned, they're stumbled into by pure dumb luck like the lottery.  My father was an avid golfer for many years and carried a low single digit handicap to his grave at 76, but my mother who struggled to break 100 was the one with an Ace trophy on the mantle.

I would suggest that golf IS fair.  Like all activities that have a significant physical component, natural inclination plays a part, but how hard and how smart you as an individual work at it really dictates how well you play.  But there remains an element of dumb luck that rears its head.  Sometimes Lady Luck smiles and a crappy golfer like me has something great happen.  Sometimes she gets an evil grin and a really good golfer's perfectly executed lay-up shot hits a sprinkler head and bounces on into the drink.  Lady Luck doesn't care about handicap index.

The only thing that being skilled does for you is to give you more chances for an ace because you hit the ball in the right direction with the right distance more consistently, But there is still a lot of luck involved.   Consider the difficulty of holing a 40 foot putt, then take that to 4th or 5th power.

[meenman]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

The only thing that being skilled does for you is to give you more chances for an ace because you hit the ball in the right direction with the right distance more consistently, But there is still a lot of luck involved.   Consider the difficulty of holing a 40 foot putt, then take that to 4th or 5th power.

But i've holed 4 40 foot putts between my last 2 rounds (with scores that i am too embarrassed to mention) - is there a better shot of that or an ace?

[SCfanatic35]

Originally Posted by meenman

But i've holed 4 40 foot putts between my last 2 rounds (with scores that i am too embarrassed to mention) - is there a better shot of that or an ace?

To hole one 40 foot putt, no.  But to hole 4 of them that close together, you must be at one with the green, ball, putter, and the universe.  I have never hit an ace nor hit very many long putts so I have no idea what is better.  I would have to say that they are definitely in the same ballpark of difficulty.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by SCfanatic35

Quote:

Originally Posted by meenman

But i've holed 4 40 foot putts between my last 2 rounds (with scores that i am too embarrassed to mention) - is there a better shot of that or an ace?

To hole one 40 foot putt, no.  But to hole 4 of them that close together, you must be at one with the green, ball, putter, and the universe.  I have never hit an ace nor hit very many long putts so I have no idea what is better.  I would have to say that they are definitely in the same ballpark of difficulty.

If you holed that many 40 foot putts in 2 rounds, then don't expect any more for the next 2 months - you've beaten the odds by a bunch.

Don't take this wrong, it's not aimed at meenman or anyone in particular, but I've found that a lot of 40 foot putts have a remarkable similarity to a 10 pound trout.  That is, it gets bigger with each retelling, and was overestimated to begin with.  In golf, it goes hand in hand with 300 yard drives and approach shots that stick within 10 feet.   It sometimes amazes me how one player can hit his 8I to within 15 feet then follow it up by holing a 30 foot putt on the same hole .

[meenman]

Originally Posted by SCfanatic35

To hole one 40 foot putt, no.  But to hole 4 of them that close together, you must be at one with the green, ball, putter, and the universe.

And dont forget - have to be very bad at chipping to have the opportunities.

[dave s]

Great story and well-told.  Thanks for sharing.

dave

[phan52]

I was playing a round with my dad last year, and we realized that not only have neither of us ever made an ace, we've never seen one either. Crazy game. :banana: Closest I've ever come was at a par-three course. On consecutive holes I managed to burn the edge, both pitch marks right on the hole. Someday...

I'm lucky enough to have one and I have witnessed 5. Two of the ones I've witnessed were on consecutive days on a golf trip to Myrtle Beach, the second one coming on the guy's birthday.

[phan52]

LOL.  I've thought that too.....boy, it'd be cruddy to get an ace with a really poor shot or in the midst of a horrible round.  But then, you reflect on stuff like this and realize that lightening, at least for a lot of us, just doesn't strike all that often......and may not even strike at all!

There was a charity outing at our club a few years ago and a guy who never hit a golf ball in his life was invited to play. He used borrowed clubs, counted every stroke, shooting over 150. On the 16th hole, a pretty difficult uphill par 3, he hit what he said was the only ball he hit in the air all day and it went in the hole. It was written up in all the local papers and ended up in Golf Digest. I'm sure it made plenty of veteran golfers sick.

[David in FL]

There was a charity outing at our club a few years ago and a guy who never hit a golf ball in his life was invited to play. He used borrowed clubs, counted every stroke, shooting over 150. On the 16th hole, a pretty difficult uphill par 3, he hit what he said was the only ball he hit in the air all day and it went in the hole. It was written up in all the local papers and ended up in Golf Digest. I'm sure it made plenty of veteran golfers sick.

Now that's just wrong!!

[Old1964]

I witnessed two ...

on the same hole ... (137 over water)

about a year apart by two of my Monday morning foursome.

• One regularly shoots about 88-90. Retired business administrator.

• The other shoots in the 100's. Retired John Deere store manager.

• Of course the other member of our foursome got his in Hilton Head. Retired plumber.

*********************I think the key is that they are all " Retired "

As for Golf Not Being Fair. I agree.  Of course, I give strokes to my friends like Obama gives grants to green energy startups.

They tell me that I will get my ace when my game improves.

Possibly.

[colin007]

Here's all i have to say about golf not being fair - 3-putt for par...

[Bucki1968]

Years ago I was playing with some buddies and I smash a drive on a par four that ended up about 2 feet from the hole. I look over at my buddies and say "let's see you beat that". You can probably guess what happens next.....The last guy drives the green and ricochets his ball off of mine into the hole.  Un-freaking-believable.

[David in FL]

Originally Posted by Bucki1968

Years ago I was playing with some buddies and I smash a drive on a par four that ended up about 2 feet from the hole. I look over at my buddies and say "let's see you beat that". You can probably guess what happens next.....The last guy drives the green and ricochets his ball off of mine into the hole.  Un-freaking-believable.

LOL......I thought you were gonna say that you missed the putt!  Now that would be something I could relate to!

[Lihu]

Here's all i have to say about golf not being fair - 3-putt for par...

That's still nice. "A long walk with a putter in hand..."