Golf: Hole-in-one teen beats odds and - Dad

Thomas Monnery, 15, has been playing golf for seven years. Photo / Sarah Ivey

There was a one in 67 million chance it could happen but an Auckland teenager has beaten the odds - and his father - by hitting two holes in one in the same round of golf.

Thomas Monnery, 15, couldn't believe his luck when he hit an ace on the fourth hole at Pukekohe Golf Club on Sunday, while playing "three ball" with his father Paul Monnery and family friend Phil Cassrels.

"I thought it was going to come up a bit short, so we rolled up and Dad went: 'Yeah, it's pretty close.' Obviously, we didn't know until we went up to the hole and it wasn't on the green, so we looked in the hole and it was in there."

Thomas' father, 42, also scored a hole in one on the fourth hole two years ago - about the same time his son started beating him at golf.

Mr Monnery: "It was just funny because it was the same hole and every time we play here I'd say: 'You haven't got a hole in one yet.' And all of a sudden he puts not one, but two, in and beats his dad again. Most people go their whole lives and never get one."

Thomas "jumped up and down and went crazy", then rang his mother.

When he called her again after another ace on the 14th hole, she thought he was lying.

He only knew he'd hit the second ace when people ahead of him started cheering. "I thought it was looking quite nice and they started clapping. I didn't know what to think, I was shocked."

Thomas shot 80 for the round. Mr Monnery said his son usually shot mid to high 70s.

"I think he got a bit carried away after the two holes in one and didn't really care about the rest of the round."

The two balls are being made into trophies and Thomas, being underage, didn't celebrate the way his father did, by shouting drinks in the bar. Instead, he just went home.

Thomas, is also an 800m runner who represented New Zealand at 13 and is competing in the nationals in Hastings in two weeks.

He has had golf lessons since he was 8 and plays two games of golf every Sunday and every day during school holidays. He is aiming to get a scholarship at New York University, to develop either his golf or running.

Associate Professor David Scott from Auckland University's department of statistics said a Golf Digest study put the odds of one player making two hole in ones in the same round at about 67 million to 1. The chance of a regular player making a hole in one was about 1 in 12,000.

HISTORIC DAY

Hole 4: Par 3 - 157 metres, using a 6-iron
Hole 14: Par 3 - 192 metres, using a 3-iron