THE COURSES

Records & Holes in One: 2004

Two holes in one have been reported from late last year. First, Mrs Sylvia Frame of Cambuslang used her driver to find the bottom of the cup at the par 3 eighth on the Strathtyrum. A week later, on the 29th of November, John Rimmer of Warrington scored an albatross with his driver at the ninth on the Old Course. None of these players actually saw their ball go in, but in Mr Rimmer's case he was prepared for something unusual because the ball went in the direction he intended!

2004
More recently Mark Forrester from Balerno, near Edinburgh, leapt in to 2004 - quite literally! Playing the 5th on the Eden, Mr Forrester aced the hole with a nine iron. It was the first hole-in-one of his career, but he needs a good memory to celebrate it: the date of his achievement was February 29th, leap year day.

Six days previously St Regulus member Mrs Mary Ann Gray also saved herself the bother of putting at the same hole, using a 9 wood to make short work of it.

On 16 March Richard Hall from the Penn GC in the West Midlands had the extremely rare experience of netting an albatross on the Old Course. Mr Hall visited the Home of Golf in the company of 24 of his clubmates and was playing in a pairs competition with his father, John, when he aced the par 4 12th hole with a five wood. Richard's tee shot ran up onto the slope between the 6th and 12th greens and then found its way into the hole. The two dozen members of the Wolverhampton club are all reported to have enjoyed the evening's celebrations, courtesy of Mr Hall senior.

The fourth hole in one of the year so far was again at the 5th on the Eden. This time Barbara Brodin of Lidköping in Sweden was the golfer who played the hole perfectly, with a five iron. Ms Brodin was doubly lucky because she was able to watch her shot go into the hole. The date of her achievement was April 12th. Nine days later, fellow Swede, Johan Buskas of Ekerö used a 7 iron to put a one on his card.

St Andrews Links greenkeepers have been helping their colleagues by spending as little time on the greens as possible. In the space of four days, three of them have had holes in one!

On Wednesday, May 12, Mark White from the Strathtyrum had a hole in one on the 5th hole of the Eden. On Friday 14th, Haydn Chambers, a seasonal on the Jubilee, had a hole in one on the 17th of the Jubilee. He was playing in a St Andrews Club match. The following day, David Leith aced the 13th at Scotscraig in their Open tournament. If he had made a 0, he would have won 1st prize on a last six holes countback!

What's in a name? On May 3, Bobby Jones of St Andrews watched his 8 iron shot hole out on the 6th hole of the Strathtyrum. Number 13 proved lucky for two golfers in May. First, Mark Geiselmayr emerged from Hidden Valley, USA, to score a one on the 13th of the Jubilee, then James Lloyd from Moortown did likewise on 13th of the New. Bill Forrester from St Andrews holed in one on the 3rd of the Balgove.

Thomas O'Leary from Minnesota teed off with a seven wood to record every golfer's dream, a hole in one on the Old Course. Mr O'Leary ran his shot up the slope and into the cup on the 11th hole. Jean Scott of the St Rule Club eagled the 10th on the Eden during the Galloway Trophy with her 4 iron.

July saw five holes in one recorded around the Links. First up was Jim Brownlee of the New Club, who found his ball in the hole at the 8th on the Eden. Peter Forbes had the rare experience of seeing his hole in one at the 16th on the Strathtyrum. Shona McMurray of St Rule Club used her 6 iron to conquer the 8th hole on the Old Course. The same kind of club was in the hands of John McDermott of Motherwell when he aced the 8th on the Eden. It was an 8 iron that swept the ball of California's John Eastman into the 9th hole of the Balgove Course.

The 5th hole of the New Course was summarily dealt with by Donnie Moberly, a visiting golfer from the US. 8 year old James Wilson from Glasgow scored a one at the ninth hole of the Balgove on August 17th. It crowned a great round for him of only 41 shots.

For holes in one from previous years click on the links below: