Ken Read's hole-in-one a valid excuse for getting home late

Sunday proved a perfect day for Whanganui golfer Ken Read to hit the perfect shot and record the first ace of the year at the Castlecliff Golf Club.

The stars aligned for Whanganui golfer Ken Read when he slotted the first hole-in-one for the year at the Castlecliff Club on Sunday.

Now retired and living close to the course, Read is a regular usually on a Sunday. But this particular Sunday just got better and better as the day progressed.

"It was my partner Cherie's 60th birthday on Sunday and she was having a Mad Hatter's party with her mates, so I was told to get out for the day and don't come back till after 5pm or so," Read said.

"I've been playing sh*t golf lately so didn't enter the normal golf club haggle, my stableford scores were no good. Instead I played with a group of golf adjunct members from the Castlecliff Workingmen's Club - there was about 25 or so of us.

"My foursome got to the fourth hole and there was a strong head wind, so I hauled out my 5 iron. The ball landed on the green about a metre and a half from the hole, then just appeared to bounce in. It didn't roll up to the hole to drop like you imagine it would. One of our group was looking the other way, but the other guys saw it.

"We had a bit of a long session in the clubhouse later on. The workingmen's club adjunct each put five bucks in when there's a hole-in-one, so I ended up with about $145 and I put $200 on the bar. It worked out perfectly with Cherie ordering me out of the house on her birthday and me getting my first ever hole-in-one. I think my ace was also the first one at the club for the year after Neil Forlong scored his on the weekend before New Year's Day making his the last for 2018," Read said.