At the end of another dramatic season on the European Tour, 38 players laid claim to a staggering 40 holes-in-one between them, second only to the 2015 total of 46 in European Tour history. From the three aces made in one round at the Masters Tournament to Rikard Karlberg’s astonishing feat of making two in three events, there was plenty to keep us entertained over the course of a memorable 12 months.
Italy’s Filippo Bergamaschi made the first hole-in-one of the season at the Australian PGA Championship in December, before the new year kicked off in style at the BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni the following month. Richard McEvoy and Le Roux Ferreira both aced the same hole in South Africa in the second round to take the early tally to three holes-in-one in four events.
Thomas Bjørn fired in a very popular hole-in-one at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, wielding a pinpoint six-iron from 179 yards at the 15th, before Grégory Havret repeated the trick later in the day, needing just one bounce to ace the same hole.
While Danny Willett was on his way to winning the Masters Tournament, something else extraordinary was happening at Augusta National Golf Club’s 16th in April. Louis Oosthuizen, Davis Love III and Shane Lowry all holed their tee shots to take the overall number of Masters holes-in-one to 27.
Karlberg landed the distinction of being the first golfer of the season to make two holes-in-one, with both coming within the space of a month. He followed his perfectly executed seven-iron at the Volvo China Open with another superb effort at Wentworth Club’s second hole during the BMW PGA Championship. The Swede wasn’t the only man to make an ace during the week at Wentworth, though, with James Morrison and Scott Jamieson also doing their bit towards the end of season count.
Robert Karlsson’s hole-in-one at Made in Denmark was extra special, with the Swede making it at the iconic 16th hole in front of the vocal fans at Himmerland Hill. There were seven more aces following Karlsson’s excellent strike in Denmark, concluding with Fabrizio Zanotti’s effort at the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player.
