Hole in One! The Complete Book of Fact, Legend, and Lore on Golf’s Luckiest Shot By Chris Rodell

Golfer's have long been fascinated by the elusive hole in one. Some achieve it, while thousands of others only dream about it. This book attempts to discover whether holes in one are simply the result of luck, statistics or a combination of the two. It's an incredibly interesting read that covers the history of hole-in-ones as well as presenting some thought provoking facts that may convince you that a hole-in-one may be in your future. All in all, it's an enjoyable read.

One of the main issues with this book is the poor editing, such as repeated stories, but if you can look past this, there is a lot of intriguing information to digest. For example, four members of the same family have all gotten a hole in one on the same hole at the same course. The author also mentions that that particular hole can also hold four golf balls. Is there some sort of strange luck at work on some courses or is a matter of being in the right place at the right time statistically?

The accepted statistic is that you're more likely to get struck by lightening than you are to get a hole in one, but after reading this book, you may just be convinced that your lucky break is around the corner. The author also covers those who have literally horrible games, scoring dismally on most of the course, only to come up with a hole in one. That brings up the question as to whether skill has anything to do with it. This factoid is juxtapositioned with the fact that on player managed to get two holes in one on the same day, during the same round.

While we may never fully understand how some players can get a hole in one, or even several, while we struggle to make par, this is a discussion that will last through the ages. This book is a definite must read if you enjoy golf lore and exploring the mystery of the hole in one. As the title suggests, that is pretty much all that is covered in the book, and there really aren't any tips that you can walk away with.
However, it is still a fun read and one that we highly recommend if you enjoy this sort of thing. It's interesting to see how players manage to get that life changing hole in one and it does provide at least some small measure of hope that someday that could be you. The key is really to just keep playing and hope for the best. At the end of the day, we may never really know how to get a hole in one, and it may be that it is simply blind luck. However, until someone comes up with a solution, it's a lot of fun to speculate and lore like this is always enjoyable.