Aces Gone Wild

photo credit: Kevitivity   In an unbelievable coincidence, four players aced the same hole during the same round of the 1989 U.S. Open.  Mark Wiebe, Jerry Pate, Nick Price and Doug Weaver all used seven-irons to knock their tee shots into the cup on the par 3, 167 yard 6th hole at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y.  The odds of this happening are one in 8,675,083 !

In 1992, amateur J.  T.  Ward scored a hole in one-with his putter.  He used a putter with a six-inch-long head (blade) that he claimed allowed him to hit the ball straighter than his other clubs.  Ward teed off with his putter at the 177-yard 3rd hole at Yarborough Landing G.C. in Ashdown, Arkansas and made his awesome ace !

The Meaning of Whiff

photo credit: Harry LimeyThe expression to “whiff” the ball originated in 1876, when Lord Gormley Whiffle completely missed a four-inch putt to lose the Silver Medal at St. Andrew’s Old Course.  The spectators kept remarking to one another, “Did you see that Whiffle?”  Later the phrase was shortened to its present form.

It was in the first round of the 1927 British Open when Bobby Jones needed only 28 putts.  He never missed a putt under 12 feet-and six of them were from more than 100 feet!  On the 5th hole, Jones sank a putt that was paced off at 120 feet.

Ben Sayer never won the British Open, but competed in it every year from 1880 to 1923.  Whenever he sank a putt, he would celebrate by turning cart-wheels on the green.  Sayer had been trained as an acrobat.

Just bad Luck !

photo credit: mrgarin   In Divonne, France during the 1974 Inter-Maritime Pro-Am, an unfortunate amateur by the name of Marcel Dionne, lost his entire set of clubs.  It seems his caddie, while attempting to ford an overflowing fast moving stream, lost his balance and dumped the man’s entire set of clubs in the river.  They were never recovered.

Norman Anderson, a well known British amateur, was furious after missing a short putt at the Royal Bangkok Country Club in Thailand.  In a full blown rage Anderson flung his putter into the air.  It struck a high-tension wire and completely disintegrated !

In the summer of 1963, Harold Kalles of Toronto, Canada, was mortally wounded when he was trying to play out of a bunker.  As he struck the ball, his shaft broke and lacerated his throat.

Bloody Par

photo credit: Heather Elias   In the 1952 Los Angeles Open, amateur Bud Hoelscher’s approach shot to the 18th green hit a cameraman on the head, inflicting a scalp wound.  The ball bounced off a can of water, hit the green-side announcer in the face, and fell onto the green some 40 feet from the hole.  Hoelscher then two-putted for a “bloody par.”

At the 1936 Irish Open, Bobby Locke hit his tee shot on the 100-yard 12th hole, the ball appeared to be lost – until someone decided to shake the flagstick while removing it.  Bobby Locke’s ball had become stuck in the flag and when shook, it fell onto the green just inches from the hole.  Locke went on to birdie the hole !

Unusual Golf Shots

photo credit: NaiaraPerezdeVillarreal   During a publicity stunt in Paris, prior to the 1977 Lancome Trophy Tournament, Arnold Palmer hit three balls from the second stage of the Eiffel Tower.  Parisians looked on as Arnie cracked one drive 403 yards. He then knocked another one even farther when it landed in an open-air double-decker bus and rode for an extra block.

In 1990, Bernhard Langer climbed 10 feet to the roof of a rain shelter in a tournament in South Africa, to play his errant ball.  From the roof he pitched his shot within three feet of the hole and made the putt for a birdie.

In 1983, Canadian amateur Elaine Johnson was flabbergasted when she miss-hit her ball which landed in her own bra.  She was penalized 2 strokes.

Broken Records

photo credit: North West Air Ambulance   In 1997, Australian Richard Cavander-Cole wore out eight pairs of golf shoes during a week-long 1,141-hole golfathon to raise money for cancer research.  He shattered a 17 year record.

In 1990, Noel Hunt broke the world record for the most balls hit in one hour.  At Port Shrigley in Great Britain, Hunt hit an unbelievable 1,536 balls!

Jack Nicklaus holds the record for the most golf courses played in a single day by a pro golfer.  In 1991 Nicklaus played 18 holes at 18 different golf courses in eight hours and 40 minutes.  Nicklaus used a helicopter to crisscross Palm Beach County, Florida, playing one hole per course.  He shot a par 73 for the 18 holes.  The event for charity, raised $590,000.

Trophy Winners

photo credit: ashleigh290   David Duval became the first player in the history of the PGA Tour to win his first three career victories in consecutive starts at the end of 1997.  He won the Disney, Kingsmill and Tour Championship tournaments.  Prior to that record, Duval had entered 86 tour events without a victory.

Walter Hagen was reputed to be the greatest match play golfer in the history of the game.  Hagen set a record of five PGA Championship wins (when the PGA Championship was match play).  His record string of 22 consecutive match play victories from 1924 to 1927 stands to this day.

LPGA player Laura Davies became the first LPGA player to win the same tournament (Standard Register Ping)  for four straight years.

Two Predictions

photo credit: The-Lane-Team   Doug Ford, prior to the 1957 Masters, made a prediction that would have astonished any self-respecting psychic.  Ford was entering a contest that would predict the new Masters Champion and the winning score total.  Ford made the forecast that HE would win the Masters with a 282 total score.  Many weeks later, Ford not only won the tournament but finished with a 282!

Prior to the 1988 MCI Heritage Classic, Greg Norman promised a 17-year old leukemia patient, Jamie Hutton, that he would win the tournament for him.  Norman went on to win the tournament as promised.  Norman met the youth through the “Thursday’s Child” Make-A-Wish program.

This proves how strong the will to win can really be in the game of golf.

Remarkable Feats

photo credit: www.theedinburghblog.co.uk   In 1920, a British golfer named Ernest Jones shot a par 72 at the Clayton Golf Course in England.  Mr. Jones, who lost a leg in World War I prior to becoming a professional golfer, played the entire round while balancing on one leg. 

Bert Yancey never even came close to winning a Masters Championship but had a remarkable string of successes at the very difficult 190 yard 16th hole.  Yancey birdied the hole in nine consecutive rounds.  He claimed the reason for his success was that he constructed miniature models of the Augusta National greens so he could get to know their contours.

Bobby Jackobson won the championship at the Hollywood Golf Club 25 times.  Only four players defeated him in a 29 year period.

Longest Drives

photo credit: Javier Paredes   If you think a 310 yard drive is long (which it certainly is), the PGA Tour veteran Carl Cooper belted the longest drive ever hit in tournament play.  It was in the H.E.B. Texas Open in 1992.  Cooper blasted his tee shot 331 yards… beyond the par-4 green.  Using his over-sized driver on the the 456-yard 3rd hole, Cooper pushed his drive far right.  His ball landed on a cart path, bounced down a hill and stopped 787 yards from the tee box.  Cooper spent three more shots just to reach the green and scored a double-bogey 6 for his history-making shot.

The longest ball ever hit on planet earth was hit by Nils Lied in 1962.  While on Mawson Base, Antarctica, Lied hit his shot, with an orange ball, 2,640 yards (1 1/2 miles) on pack ice !

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