Hole-in-one insurance

SIR – Years ago at a country club in Cheshire I hit a hole-in-one (Letters, April 24) – a slam dunk (entering the hole without a bounce).

Leaving the course wondering how much a round of drinks would set me back, I did the honourable thing and reported my achievement to the golf club manager. He disappeared in to the bar, returning not with an order pad, but a bottle of champagne for a reward.

I didn’t renew my hole-in-one insurance after that.

Christopher Allen

Swettenham, Cheshire

SIR – In the 1970s, while serving in HMS Cochrane, a colleague won the £40 jackpot on the wardroom’s one-armed bandit. In a similar vein to a golfer’s hole-in-one, the forfeit for such good luck was to buy a drink for everyone in the bar.

The 200 guests from the USS John F Kennedy’s wardroom and their 100 hosts were most appreciative.

Phil Harris

Crewkerne, Somerset