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This Day In Sports…August 5, 1985, 40 years ago today:
Jim Cobb, a 69-year-old amateur golfer from Craig, CO, scores three holes-in-one over a 30-hour period. The odds against this happening are 8,404,101,101 to 1. Calculated by some guy with entirely too much time on his hands. From the National Hole-In-One Registry come these more reasonable numbers: odds of a PGA Tour pro making an ace: 3,000 to one. A low-handicapper: 5,000 to one. An average player: 12,000 to one. Two people in the same foursome acing the same hole: 17 million to one. And a player acing two holes in the same round: 67 million to one.
There are approximately 500 million rounds of golf played each year in the United States. The average course has 25,000-30,000 rounds played each year, and each course reports 10-15 holes-in-one annually. A hole-in-one is recorded about once every 3,500 rounds. Only 1-2% of golfers ace a hole during the year, and those golfers have an average handicap of 14 and have been playing an average of 24 years. The most prolific age group is 50-59 years old, followed by 40-49. Sixteen percent of holes-in-one are made by women.
A hole-in-one on a par 4 is called an “albatross” or a “double eagle”—also acknowledged for a score of two on a par 5. A hole-in-one on a par 5 (or a score of two on a par 6) is a “condor.” According to Wikipedia, as of January 2021, a condor had been recorded only five times in history. It’s happened mostly at high altitude where the ball travels further, and generally with players cutting a corner on a dogleg. It has never been accomplished on the PGA Tour. An albatross has, though, including 19 times in majors. In fact, Patrick Reed dropped one in on a par 5 at the U.S. Open in June at Oakmont.
Which gives me an excuse to mention that the PGA Tour record for career holes-in-one is 10, shared by Robert Allenby and Hal Sutton. That duo is three ahead of Greg Chalmers, Scott Hoch, Corey Pavin, Bob Tway and Willie Wood. Other notables: Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer each collected three aces in their careers and Tiger Woods two.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
