Golf pals defy 17m-to-one odds with holes-in-one

Seventeen million to one. That is the estimated odds of what has happened on the 15th hole of the Royal Liverpool Golf Club.

Long-time friends Rob Davis, 67, and David Lewis, 64, golfing partners of more than 30 years, both made a hole-in-one, on the same hole and in the same round.

Rob holed his first ace with a pitching wedge on the 107-yard, par-three hole.

David followed moments later with the same club for what was his second hole-in-one, around 12 years after his first.

"We knew my shot had hit the flag, but because of the green's topography we couldn't see the base of the pin," said Rob.

"I honestly thought it had bounced off into the fringe, so I wasn't that excited at first. David's looked close too, but again, we couldn't see the finish.

"When we walked up and saw no balls on the green, one of our playing partners told us to go to the hole together. Seeing both balls in there was surreal. We just shook hands and tried to take it all in."

After taking the moment in, the pair headed to the clubhouse bar and, as tradition dictates, bought drinks for fellow golfers. Now, Rob says he needs to decide how to mount the ball to mark the incredible occasion.

"I forgot to change the ball and promptly hit it into the gorse, never to be seen again," David said of his first hole-in-one on the fourth hole at the Open Championship venue in Hoylake. "I wasn't making that mistake this time!"

England Golf Championships Director James Crampton said: "Some people go their whole lives without getting a hole-in-one.

"To achieve one, alongside one of your friends, on the same hole, is nothing short of extraordinary, as the odds suggest - but it's a moment that these golfers will cherish for the rest of their lives."

The National Hole in One registry estimated Rob and David's feat at 17 million-to- one. To put that in to perspective, dying of a shark attack in a lifetime has odds of one in 4.3 million, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History, home to the shark attack register.

Rolling a predetermined number on a dice nine times in a row, or guessing a seven-digit number first time, have odds of one in 10 million.

And flipping a coin on heads, or tails, 24 times in a row has odds of one in 16.7 million.