A father, son and stepdad have all defied huge odds to chalk up their first holes-in-one in the same month.
Following a trip to watch the second day of The Open at Royal Troon in July, father and son Carl and Lewis Ham-Howes were clearly inspired by the quality of golf they had been watching.
During their trip to Scotland, the pair, who are both members at La Moye in Jersey, stayed at Cameron House, Loch Lomond and played the resident golf course, The Wee Demon, a tricky nine-hole course on the banks of the loch.
On the 17th hole, a straight par 3 of 151 yards, Carl hit a 6-iron that bounced twice on the green and disappeared into the hole. Having played golf for 36 years, interestingly both right and left-handed and never having come close before, it was a moment to cherish for the 20.3-handicapper as he picked his ball out of the hole.
Just three weeks later, Lewis’ stepfather, Paul Soares was playing in his local club competition at St Clements in Jersey, and at the 5th hole, a par 3 of 134 yards, the 11.7-handicapper also sunk his first-ever ace.
Ironically, Lewis messaged his father to say: “That’s you and Paul both with holes-in-one, me next….!” And he wasn’t wrong.
The 16.9-handicapper, playing in the Jersey Golf Junior Festival the following week at St Clements, stepped up to the par-4 4th hole, 275 yards from the pin. A hole most would lay up on, Lewis took it on with his 3-wood and delivered the perfect shot to clear the hazard, landing just shy of the green and rolling into the hole.
An England Golf spokesperson said: “While the odds of a hole-in-one are estimated to be around 12,000-1 for amateur golfers, to get a hole-in-one on a par-4 is estimated to be at odds of 6 million-1.
“Carl and Paul’s achievements are impressive while Lewis’ is remarkable, and the fact they’ve all picked up their first ones in the space of a month is astonishing. For everyone still dreaming of one, it instils that bit of inspiration and belief – and that’s why we love the game!”