‘ELEVEN ACES IN SIX MONTHS? MAYBE I AM THE LUCKIEST GOLFER IN THE UK’
Club golfer Neil Watts has had more aces in six months than most people manage in a lifetime – so is it luck or judgement?
Like most golfers, Neil Watts is still waiting for his first hole-in-one of 2022. That, in itself, is nothing special, but what he achieved in the second half of last year certainly was. Depending on who you ask, Watts ended 2021 as either the luckiest or most accurate amateur golfer in the world.
The social club manager opts for the former whenever he is asked to reflect on what might just be the craziest streak in the history of golf. As hard as it may be to believe, Watts had never hit a hole-in-one until June last year, when began a staggering run of 11 aces in six months, beating combined odds of several billion to one.
“I still can’t quite believe it myself,” he admits. “Having waited 35 years to get my first hole-in-one, it only took me two weeks to get my second – and then I started getting one almost every other week. One of them was actually on a par 4, when I drove the green from 287 yards.
“It got to the point where every time I came back into the clubhouse and I was asked if I had had another hole-in-one, my answer was ‘yes’.”
We admit we were a little sceptical when we heard about his claim, but eight of his 11 aces came in competition, including one in a Club Championship with the owner of Tracy Park Golf Club in Gloucestershire. His most recent hole-in-one was even caught on camera when ITV News came to interview Watts about his remarkable run a week before Christmas.
“That was brilliant because I was pretty nervous,” explains Watts, who usually plays twice a week off a handicap index of 2.5. “My club gave me 18 balls to hit while they did the interview and it was on the 15th ball that I stuck it in the hole.
“I have had people coming up to me saying, ‘How much have you paid someone to put it down?’ But, luckily, I’ve had three or four witnesses every time.”
Initially, Watts did uphold the tradition of buying every other golfer a drink in the bar, but quickly realised that it was becoming an expensive habit to maintain.
“When I did it the third time, I found out how quickly I can get the key in the car and drive off! It was getting a little too costly in the end.”
Incredibly, Watts has hit all his holes-in-one on the Cromwell and Crown Courses at Tracy Park Golf Club, including six on the same hole, a 190-yard par 3. It’s now reached the stage where every time he sets foot on a par 3, he’s already thinking about getting another ace.
“I think after I hit my sixth or seventh, I started to feel really confident that I was going to get another one,” he says. “Once you’ve had a few, I think you start to believe in yourself a lot more. I mean, I don’t want to be greedy, but I’d love to get to 20 if I can. I’m still only 40 so there’s a lot of golf left in me yet!”
Incidentally, the current world record for the most holes-in-one in a lifetime is held by Norman Manley, a golfer from California, who made 59. So, if Watts can keep his current streak going, he should be a world record holder by the end of 2025!