KNYSNA NEWS - Winning the lottery is far more likely to happen than hitting two consecutive holes-in-one, but Greg Alcock (78) achieved this incredible golfing feat a few weeks ago in a club competition at the Sedgefield Links Golf Course.
Even though this golf course is graded as a Par 3 course, which is shorter than many other golf courses, this achievement still takes some beating - and loads of luck.
On top of that, Alcock has, due to cancer, been blind in the left eye since his thirties, which he says affects his depth perception severely.
Alcock, whose handicap is 10 at Sedgefield Links and 22 at the Knysna Golf Course, told the Knysna-Plett Herald that he had never, in his wildest dreams, thought he would one day hit a hole-in-one, let alone two consecutively.
In fact, he never, in his teens or early adult life, had an interest in golf, and took up the sport only in 2018.
"My friends used to call me to play only when they were short in four-ball, to make up the numbers. I would then accept, to help them out and for fun, with a nondescript set of golf clubs, which I was gifted by one of them.
"Later on, it turned out that I wasn't a complete mug with the clubs, given my little experience. Later, I visited Andrew at Scratch Golf in Knysna, who highly recommended that I change to Srixon irons (z355), which was the best thing I ever did.
"He also recommended, to enable consistency, that I stick with one type of ball - that being Srixon soft."
What happened on the day?
Alcock says that he and his three friends, Doug Stevens, Lloyd Gosling and Gerhard Dreyer, were once again playing, in an indivual competion on a Wednesday, when he hit the ball off the 5th tee to the 5th green.
When the four of them arrived at the 5th hole, they all looked around for his ball - only to find it in the hole!
"Naturally I was quite stunned and surprised to realise I had just hit a hole-in-one.
"The same thing happened from the 6th tee - when we once again found my ball in the hole.
When Greg Alcock (third from the left) hit two consecutive holes-in-one, his friends, from left, Doug Stevens, Lloyd Gosling and Gerhard Dreyer were present.
"Up to that point I was playing reasonably well overall, putting and so forth, but from there onwards, I was just going through the motions, trying to process what had just happened - all while my mates kept congratulating me.
"Initially I wanted to keep it low profile, but they kept egging me on to tell the media about it, so here we are.
"Back at the clubhouse there was great excitement from everybody because no-one had heard of such a feat before," Alcock said.
"Both aces were achieved at Par 3 holes - 80 metres and 104 metres respectively - using a Srixon 3 soft ball, and using a Srixon z355 No 9 iron on the 5th and a Srixon z355 No 7 iron on the 6th."
Sedgefield Links Golf Course manager Joe Grobler confirmed Alcock was a paid-up member of the club who shot two consecutive holes-in-one on the 5th and 6th holes.
Alcock received a payout from his insurance company for the achievement.
What are the odds of this happening?
Google indicates that only one professional golfer, John Hudson (then aged 25), playing in the 1971 Martini International Tournament - part of the British PGA circuit - has shot two consecutive holes-in-one; on the Par 3 12th hole (178m using a 4 iron) and on the Par 4 13th (284m).
Google indicates that at tournament level, professionally, this hasn't happened since.
Only three golfers in PGA history are said to have achieved two holes-in-one during the same round, but not consecutively. Apparently, only one Par 4 hole has been aced in PGA tour history - by Andrew Magee in 2001 at the Phoenix Open.
The odds of a professional golfer getting two holes-in-one in the same round are 1 in 76 million, and for amateurs 1 in 17 million in the same round.
It is estimated that the odds of a professional golfer achieving consecutive holes-in-one in a competition/tournament are well over a billion and a half to 1.
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