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I disagree -- I don't think that a hole-in-one correlates with winning the round (I'd be interested if someone can crunch the stats for the PGA), and I also don

I disagree -- I don't think that a hole-in-one correlates with winning the round (I'd be interested if someone can crunch the stats for the PGA), and I also don't think that goes any further to explaining the reasoning. I think the article DOES hint at explaining it anthropologically -- there's a rich tradition of "potlatch" events in which community members demonstrate their power by how much they can give away. Ultimately, you've just experienced some incredible good luck, and that gets spread around by handing out free drinks. Also, if you hang out at the club long enough, you'll be the recipient of many hole-in-one free drinks, which will ultimately balance out the round you had to buy.

whyaduck 12y ago
I am (was - haven't played in ages) a truly terrible golfer, and I've gotten a hole in one. I don't remember EVER winning a round. Funny story - when I got the hole in one, my foursome spent 5 minutes or so looking behind the green for my ball before someone looked in the cup and asked, incredulously, if I was playing a Titleist.
notahacker 12y ago
Agree. A hole in one is usually achieved on a par three green which requires no real skill to hit (but plenty of skill to rarely miss) and subtracts no more than two from your overall round which is not a huge advantage in a tournament with players of mixed abilities. In a tournament the pin might well be placed in an awkward part of the green intended to deter golfers from intentionally aiming directly at it, leaving the more accurate and strategic golfers most likely to win the tournament actually less likely to score a hole in one. If anything, a hole-in-one represents the opportunity for people without any chance of ever achieving the consistency to win a golf tournament to earn bragging rights. Anecdata: As one of the most erratic, temperamental and limited golfers ever in my teens, I once nailed an approach shot from 150 yards straight into the hole on the second hole (arguably, given that I was playing my second shot from heavy rough, a more difficult shot than a hole-in-one on a regular par three). In the same round I then managed to lose five balls in the process of scoring seventeen on the 17th during the same round. To be fair, it was quite a difficult 17th. Strangely, I haven't played much since.

whyaduck 12y ago

I am (was - haven't played in ages) a truly terrible golfer, and I've gotten a hole in one. I don't remember EVER winning a round. Funny story - when I got the hole in one, my foursome spent 5 minutes or so looking behind the green for my ball before someone looked in the cup and asked, incredulously, if I was playing a Titleist.

notahacker 12y ago

Agree. A hole in one is usually achieved on a par three green which requires no real skill to hit (but plenty of skill to rarely miss) and subtracts no more than two from your overall round which is not a huge advantage in a tournament with players of mixed abilities. In a tournament the pin might well be placed in an awkward part of the green intended to deter golfers from intentionally aiming directly at it, leaving the more accurate and strategic golfers most likely to win the tournament actually less likely to score a hole in one. If anything, a hole-in-one represents the opportunity for people without any chance of ever achieving the consistency to win a golf tournament to earn bragging rights. Anecdata: As one of the most erratic, temperamental and limited golfers ever in my teens, I once nailed an approach shot from 150 yards straight into the hole on the second hole (arguably, given that I was playing my second shot from heavy rough, a more difficult shot than a hole-in-one on a regular par three). In the same round I then managed to lose five balls in the process of scoring seventeen on the 17th during the same round. To be fair, it was quite a difficult 17th. Strangely, I haven't played much since.