Golf duo beat one-in-17m odds with two holes-in-one
TWO amateur golfers have beaten odds of more than 17-million-to-one by hitting consecutive holes-in-one just seconds apart.
The chances of Michael Bidmead, 72, and Milos Bilic, 51, both holing out have been calculated by the National Hole in One Registry. The pair hit their golf balls straight into the hole, one after the other, at the Oxford Golf Club’s 15th hole, a 201-yard par three.
Mr Bilic, a gardener, teed-off first with a six-iron club, but because the green is in a dip the golfers could not see how his ball ended up. Then Mr Bidmead, a retired kitchen surveyor, used his six iron to send his ball towards the flag, then waited for the last player in their three-ball group to shoot before walking up the fairway. As they crested the hill they saw only one ball on the green but, to their great joy, the other two were nestled in the hole.
Mr Bilic, who plays off a 10 handicap, said this was his first hole-in-one in 18 years of playing. “I was buzzing,” he said. “It was all a bit of a blur, but we punched the air with delight ... some guys on the next tee, who saw it, came over and congratulated us.”
Mr Bidmead, who plays off a seven handicap, said: “We both hit the ball well and knew we were close, but we didn’t expect to see both our balls in the hole. The barman couldn’t believe it when we walked in and told him.”