Golf: Holey moley - boy hits two hole-in-ones in a fortnight

Luke Webber, 11, who has managed a feat few golfers accomplish by scoring two holes-in-one in the space of a fortnight. Photo / Dean Purcell

It's the shot few golfers will ever sink but for two New Zealand amateurs - one a schoolboy - they've managed the freakish feat not once but twice.

An 11-year-old west Auckland boy has done a near-impossible feat slotting two hole-in-ones at different golf courses in a fortnight.

The second awe-inspiring piece of play has been executed by a 28-year-old plumber, each time at a hole that normally takes four shots to sink. The latest ace happened on Waitangi Weekend on a hole with a bend that meant he couldn't see the green when he teed off.

It's been an unforgettable summer for schoolboy Luke Webber who despite his 16 handicap has managed a feat the envy of most many years his senior.

Dad Alan Webber said the first happened on January 16 during a round of golf with his grandmother and older brother at the Whangaroa Golf Club.

"He got to the 11th hole and I believe there was a little altercation between him and his brother. The oldest boy may have knocked him with a golf club and he was not in a good frame of mind when he hit the shot but then it went in."

The proud dad said his son Facetimed him as he approached the 144m par 3 hole green.

"He had tears in his eyes. He was pretty pumped."

His name has since been inscribed on the Northland club's hole-in-one honours board.

The second time his father was with him on the 15th hole at the Gulf Harbour course on January 29.

"We could see it from the tee and it went in. I was halfway to the hole and I could see it and then he could see it. It was a pretty special moment to get two."

Webber caught the jubilant walk to the green on video, with his son doffing his cap after retrieving the ball.

"I went 'Oh my god mate, you've got another one'. I was completely, like 'Wow'. Just the fact it was the second one in 16 days."

But exactly why his son slotted the ball perfectly at such a young age has the dad scratching his head.

"I don't know. He's obviously got a talent for getting hole-in-ones!" said Webber, who had one hole-in-one in 1994.

"My mother had one, my dad had one so it's a family affair."

According to the US PGA national hole-in-one registry, the odds of the average golfer making a hole-in-one are 12,000 to 1.

The feat has won high praise for New Zealand's first female professional golfer, Gillian Bannan.

She said while it was remarkable the youngster aced one, the fact that he repeated it on a different course 13 days later was pretty special.

"Many golfers play all their lives and never get a hole in one," said Bannan.

Meanwhile, Waitangi Weekend proved unbelievable for Albany man Michael Holmes, 28, who landed an ace on a hole at Takapuna Golf Course that should have taken four shots.

"It's mindblowing, said Holmes. "You can't fathom that it's happened. It's like only something you see on the professional tour."

He said the first happened last year on the 286m first hole.

"The first one was absolutely shocking. I did not expect it to end up in the hole at all. I was walking down to the green and I was saying to my mate 'I can't see my ball'. He said it's either over the green or in the hole and I laughed. Then I was walking towards the back of the green and thought I'd look in the hole and there it was."

Players on the green at the time said the ball bounced four times, including three before disappearing into the hole.

When history repeated on the 268m ninth hole on Sunday at the same course he couldn't believe it was happening again.

"Walking up there I had no clue where my ball was at that point in time until I saw where it had pitched on the green. "

He said this was a particularly sweet albatross as it was into a 370m hole which went straight for 200m before a hard right bend to the green.

While there was no board of honour at the club, he settled for having a celebratory barbecue with his mates.