Odds of a Hole in One

There are very few things in the game of golf more exhilarating than making a hole in one over the course of one's round, and while some golfing professionals may make the feat look fairly routine from time to time, it is anything but. From the Players Championship in March to the Wyndham Championship in August, there were numerous aces for PGA Tour professionals to celebrate this past season. But what are the odds of accomplishing one of the rarest feats in a round of golf with your buddies? And how significant is the difference in those odds between your everyday golfer making an ace vs. those of a PGA Tour pro? Let's take a look.

Before diving into the actual numbers, let's take a look at a few staggering facts provided by The National Hole-in-One Registry; the official database that has been keeping track of these extraordinary feats since 2006. According to the National Hole-in-One Registry:

• There are approximately over 500 million rounds of golf played each year in the United States

• On average each course has about 25,000 – 30,000 rounds played each year

• Each course reports 10-15 hole in ones each year

• Only 1-2% of golfers score a hole in one during the year

According to the registry, on average, the odds of a professional tour player making an ace come in at around 3,000 to 1. Last season on the PGA Tour one player, 24-year-old Joe Highsmith, in his rookie season on tour, defied all odds by notching not one, not two, but three hole-in-ones in one season! The third of which occurred at the Wyndham Championship in August when Highsmith wrote his name in the history books by notching an ace on the Par-3, 12th, at Sedgefield Country Club.

Incredibly, the defending champion at the time, Lucas Glover, also made an ace on the same hole earlier in the tournament for the sixth hole in one of his career. The National Hole-in-One Registry places the odds of two players from the same foursome group making an ace on the same hole at roughly 17 million to 1. Wonder what the odds of two players acing the same hole in the same tournament are?

What are the odds of making a hole in one?

On average, per The National Hole-in-One Registry, an ace is recorded about once every 3,500 rounds meaning that an average golfer has around a 12,500 to 1 chance of accomplishing the majestic feat. Those chances improve to 5,000 to 1 for a Low-handicapper. The registry goes on to point out that the average handicap of a golfer making an ace is 14, so all hope is not lost for those of us who dare to dream.

At the end of July of this year, 16 holes-in-one had occurred on the PGA Tour prior to Joe Highsmith's incredible feat at the Wyndham in August. Astonishingly, the rookie wasn't the only one to defy the odds in 2024. Frank Bensel Jr. recorded back-to-back hole-in-ones earlier this year at the U.S. Senior Open. The odds of that happening? Well, the odds of recording more than one ace in a round come in at 67 million to 1 to put that feat in perspective.

According to the PGA Tour, the last time someone had achieved two holes-in-one during the same round before Bensel Jr. was Brian Harman in 2015 at Plainfield Country Club.

If you are wondering who holds the record for the most career holes-in-one on the PGA Tour, two players share that feat, Hal Sutton and Robert Allenby. Both reached double digits for aces made in their careers on the PGA Tour with 10. Several players, including recent victorious U.S. Presidents Cup captain Jim Furyk, and 2009 British Open winner Stewart Cink, sit at six career holes-in-one made. Lucas Glover added his name to that list in August.