From exasperation to euphoria, one golfer's 500 chances at a hole-in-one capture it all
It’s better to let the ace come to you than to chase the ace. At least that’s a fair point to make in the game of golf after watching The European Tour’s latest “Chase the Ace” episode with Andy Sullivan.
Sullivan was the third golfer to participate in the Tour’s feature, joining fellow three-time European Tour winners Edoardo Molinari from 2017 and Brandon Stone from 2018.
Neither succeeded in their challenges. The odds of an amateur golfer completing a hole-in-one are approximately one in 12,000, according to 2018 data from the National Hole-in-One Registry. The odds are based on 30 years of data from hole-in-one insurance plans.
The odds for a professional player on a tour is closer to one in 3,000.
The European Tour gave Sullivan 500 golf balls and an entire day to try and complete the task on the 171-yard par 3 11th hole at the Heritage Course at London Golf Club.
The result? A humorous and occasionally hard to watch compilation of “no” exclamations, swearing, cringing, an occasional positive outlook and ...
Third time lucky......?! 😉 #ChaseTheAce pic.twitter.com/f5kmxoH8K5
— Andy Sullivan (@andysulligolf) April 24, 2019
(Spoiler alert!)
... the payoff with an exuberant celebration that was well earned.
The reality of Sullivan’s day was put into numbers by The European Tour.
The Stats 📊
• 171 yards
• 7 iron
• 230 shots
• 217 Greens in Regulation (94%)
• 90 shots within 10ft (39%)
• 42 shots within 5ft (18%)
• 8 balls in the bunker (3%)
• 14.8 ft average proximity
• 1 hole in one#ChaseTheAce— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) April 25, 2019
It’s a good thing there was a happy ending for Sullivan, because so many of those shots were absolute heart breakers. Or as Sullivan put it himself: “The biggest disappointment IN the world.”
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