“Golf is a game in which you shout ‘Fore,’ shoot six and write down five.”
—Paul Harvey
1 in 8,606: One often-repeated estimate as to the odds of making a hole-in-one—that averages out to one in every 478 rounds.
1 in 13,000: The estimate of companies that sell hole-in-one prize insurance to golf tournament organizers, or about one in every 722 rounds.
According to the Professional Golfers Association (PGA), a male professional's or a top amateur player's chances are 3,708 to 1 (an average of one hole-in-one every 206 rounds); a female pro's odds are 4,648 to 1 (one every 258 rounds). However, the average player's odds are only 42,952 to 1 (one every 2,386 rounds).
49: Holes-in-one made by golf pro Mancil Davis, who had more in his career than any other pro.
$85.70: The average cost of a weekend's green fees in Hawaii, the most expensive state in which to play golf.
$23.80: The average cost of a weekend's green fees in South Dakota, the cheapest state in which to play golf.
6: Tiger Woods' age when he got his first hole-in-one. However, at the time he failed to beat the record for youngest hole-in-one, which had been set by a five-year-old.
3: The age, in 2001, of Jake Paine of Lake Forest, California, who smashed Tiger Woods' record. He teed off with his Snoopy driver and hit the ball a soaring and rolling 48 yards, directly into the cup.
$180,000: The initiation fee of the most expensive golf and country club in the United States, not including monthly dues. The club in question is the Vintage Club of Indian Wells, California.
$900,000: The amount awarded to Retief Goosen for winning the U.S. Open in 2001.
$500: The amount awarded to Gene Sarazen for winning the U.S. Open in 1922.
$28,000: The price of a four-passenger, fully loaded deluxe Deusenberg Estate Golf Car, including CD players and rack-and-pinion steering.
101 mph: The speed that a driver travels when swung by a typical “accomplished” golfer.
7: The world record for the number of golf balls balanced on top of each other.
10 percent: The percentage of all professional golfers who are single and unattached.
35: The mean age of those players who tour with the PGA.
7 feet: The minimum height that the United States Golf Association (USGA) calls an adequate flag stick.
90: The compression number of a normal golf ball. The compression number measures the springiness of the ball. In windy or hot conditions, a ball should be harder, with a compression number of about 100.
12 percent: The percentage of all lightning fatalities that happen on golf courses.
$15,000: The asking price by a sports memorabilia firm for a revolver used in the suicide of Clifford Roberts. Roberts was co-founder of the Masters Golf Tournament and its chairman from 1931 until his death in 1977. Roberts killed himself next to “Ike's Pond” on the Augusta National Golf Course and is buried in a secret location somewhere on the course.