Two golfing buddies defied the odds of 1 in 17 million by achieving golf’s holy grail: a hole-in-one in two consecutive strokes.
Steve Wilmhurst, who is 58, and his 70-year-old playing partner Liam Nairn performed exceptionally on Monday as they played the 16th hole at Studley Wood Golf Club in Oxfordshire.
Wilmhurst and Nairn were playing as part of a foursome, and the National Hole-In-One Registry estimates the odds of two players achieving that feat on the same hole at 17 million to 1. For an individual player, the odds of making a hole-in-one are estimated at 12,000 to 1.
The par-3 16th hole at Studley Wood is 154 yards long and it was Nairn who was first up, making his first ever hole-in-one.
“I was absolutely elated because it was such a rare thing that happened to me, so I was over the moon,” he told the BBC. “I said to myself, ‘I’ve got a hole in one – unbelievable’. We were all jumping for joy and getting high fives, so [it was] a very, very happy event.”
Lightning struck twice
Wilmhurst had made a hole-in-one two decades earlier and was the next to tee off. “We all watched Liam’s ball hit the green and then into the hole,” he said.
“The ball hit the pin on the way in, so we heard the ball go in, and about 30 seconds later I took my shot and the ball disappeared, so I walked out to the green and thought ‘I missed’ and put it in the bunker.
“When Liam went to get his ball out of the hole, I didn’t believe him when he said, ‘Oh, yours is here too.’ I thought he was joking. I had to check to make sure it wasn’t April Fools’ Day.”
The two friends play golf together four times a week and bought drinks for everyone in the club bar that afternoon.
“The chances get smaller the more we play, but that’s a great thing – it doesn’t happen often,” Wilmhurst said.
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