The chances of scoring a hole in one are 12k to one. The odds of scoring an Albatross are 6 million to one. The odds of scoring both in one game are incalculable – although some state the odds are 72 billion to one.
Yet, Cork native, Rowan McCarthy did just that!
Rowan moved to Perth, Australia from Douglas in 2011 and started golfing about five years ago. His only previous hole in one had been at Douglas Pitch and Putt (but his friends have told him that doesn’t count!)
In the five years since he has started golfing, he has been quite active, playing with several societies including the Irish Perth Golf society, run by a fellow Cork friend, Gerard Lynch.
On the day of the fateful game, he was playing in a competition alongside 65 others. The first nine holes weren’t extraordinary and included a double bogie and a triple bogie. On the 12th hole, he got a hole in one. He tells us, ‘After that, everybody was congratulating me and my head wasn’t in the game – I just wanted to get out of there and go to the bar.’
He got a double bogie on the 13th, a triple bogie on the 14th, but then, the 15th was the Albatross!
On the 15th, the ball was just off the fairway on some sand. It wasn’t a bunker, just some sand, but he decided to punch a five iron there and use the bank to roll it in. Then, the ball just disappeared. He couldn’t see it drop at all because it was so far away. They drove up and saw it in the hole.
When asked his reaction after scoring an Albatross, he told us ‘The hole in one was excitement. The Albatross was shock. I didn’t know what to do with myself. Celebrations were out of this world! We were high-fiving and jumping around, hugging each other and taking photos.’
Since then, he has been interviewed by NBC news, Golf Digest and Channel 9 (the biggest news channel in Australia). We are grateful that he took the time to do an interview with us at Lee Valley and look forward to having him visit next time he is home.
