Last fall an 11-year-old named Holden Bautista made two holes-in-one in a single round, and, even better, Tiger Woods was an eyewitness. The kid asked Tiger if he had ever made double aces—“I mean you’re the GOAT, so it would be expected?”
“You had to go there,” replied Tiger, laughing. “I’ll give you that one.”
There is no real equivalent to a hole-in-one in other sports. It’s the perfect combination of skill and good fortune with an emphasis on the latter. The closest is a “perfect game” in bowling, but I would argue rolling a 300 requires much more aptitude than luck. The same for pitching a perfect game in baseball. Even with an imperfect swing, every golfer can make an ace.
I read recently in the LIV media guide that Phil Mickelson claims to have made 47 holes-in-one. I believe him, but by the time I finished typing the previous sentence, he might have made a few more. It reminded me of a story in the 1980s when a woman in the Midwest started making holes-in-one at an incredible clip. Since our founding in 1950, Golf Digest has been the official record keeper of the game, so she reported the aces to our senior editor John P. May, who believed in taking people at their word. She made four or five in January and February. The local newspaper took notice when she rolled in Nos. 6, 7 and 8 in March and April. By the time I was dispatched to interview her in June, she had pushed through 9, 10, 11 and 12. This was now a record for most holes-in-one in a year. I couldn’t get down to see her fast enough before she recorded a 13th and 14th.
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