Amateur golfer stunned after ‘surreal’ hole-in-one feat

As if one ace in a single round wasn’t enough. 

We’ll allow you to be a bit jealous of Mark Wyatt, a 57-year-old retired telecoms worker who has just achieved a feat that is pretty much unthinkable on the golf course for amateur golfers.

In a miracle on Easter weekend, Wyatt landed a hole-in-one twice in the space of just nine holes. The odds of such an accomplishment are estimated at 67 million to one.

The surreal moment happened at Royal Winchester, the club where the 2.7 handicapper has been playing for 25 years.

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His four aces across 40 years hooked on the sport would have been satisfactory enough, but to add two more in the space of just a few swings was quite remarkable.

“The first ace came on the 11th hole in March 2002 in a Saturday roll-up before my second in June 2005 on the 7th,” he said. “My third was in June 2008 on the 3rd and my previous ace before Monday was actually in April 2011 on the 17th, funnily enough in the same competition as the one I achieved my pair of aces on Monday!

“I was lucky enough to have aced all four of our par-3s at Royal Winchester, but then making two in a round is just unbelievable.”

As Wyatt should recall to his fellow members for years to come, his first was a sweetly struck six-iron on the 185-yard par-3 hole.

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“You could see the green but couldn’t see the bottom of the pin,” he explained. “We were 95 per cent sure it had gone in but we weren’t certain, as it could’ve gone past the green and out the back. It was only when we got there that we realised for sure.

“The celebration was quite understated. I think it was more for the others than me! I was playing with my partner Beverley which was really nice to have her there witnessing it. She was very pleased and gave me a big hug.”

The second came just two hours later on the 11th: “It was playing 175 yards, so I hit my seven iron, slightly downwind and downhill,” Wyatt said. “It bounced before we all saw it roll in. There was a bit of a stunned silence at first and then lots of cheers.

“It was surreal.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.