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21 Times a Hole-in-One Absolutely Doesn’t Count

Holes-in-one, whether you’ve had a bunch of them or are still chasing that elusive first (like our resident writer Alan Shipnuck) are great fun. It’s part of the fabric of golf; something we all strive for. So much so that we’ll even bend the rules ever-so-slightly in pursuit of one. But I’m sorry, that stuff won’t fly around these parts.
Holes-in-one are special because they’re so rare. There aren’t any shortcuts. It’s why I’ve put together this handy list outlining all the times making a hole-in-one absolutely doesn’t count.
1. After A Mulligan
Sad, but true. Let’s say you’re playing a par 3, shank one into the water, drop a sneaky mulligan down with the consent of your playing partners, and knock it in the hole. A fun story, no doubt, but it doesn’t count as a hole-in-one. Proper holes-in-one need to have a legitimate, USGA-abiding score attached to them.
2. After A Penalty Shot
Similar to the one above, the only difference is that, technically speaking, you do register a score that would hold muster with the USGA. The only problem is that if you knock one in the water, re-tee then knock it into the hole, it can’t be a hole-in-one because it’s literally not a hole-in-one. It’s a hole-in-three. Just another par, in the black and white on the scorecard.
It also violates another rule of mine…
3. Multiple Attempts On The Same Hole
I love the European Tour’s hole-in-one videos. Love them. But when you have that many attempts with no actual score attached to the end of it, and when you’re standing in front of the golf gods at the pearly gates of golf heaven, this won’t go down as an *actual* hole-in-one.
4. On A Par-3 Course
Yes, technically you are playing an actual course and registering a legitimate score, but there’s something about it that doesn’t feel right. True holes-in-one are registered on golf courses where par 3s are few-and-far between.
5. Temporary Green
This is a little harsh because there’s not really much the player themselves can do about it, but temporary greens present all kinds of problems. The grass almost never actually resembles that of an actual green, and the holes can often be cut incorrectly. The yardage gets thrown off along the way; not exactly the fairest platform for claiming a hole-in-one.
6. In a Golf Simulator
I love golf simulators, and living in New York City, use them all the time to get my golf fix in. I’ve actually made a hole-in-one on a simulator once. Do I go around claiming it as an actual hole-in-one? No, I don’t, because it’s not an actual hole-in-one.
7. Scramble
If there’s a common theme among all these things, it’s that holes in one need to be registered in legitimate, law-abiding rounds that the USGA would approve of counting toward your handicap. A scramble, fun as they are, doesn’t fit that criteria.
8. When You Play An Odd Number Of Holes
Play three holes and make a hole in one on one of them? Then play the final six holes to get your nine-hole score. I’m not sure holes-in-one can exist in isolation; they need to be part of a larger round, either 9 or 18.
9. When Somebody Else Knocks In Your Ball For You
This one should be obvious. You hit your ball on the green, perhaps close to the hole, then your buddy in the group ahead putts your ball into the hole for you. Hilarious! But not an actual hole in one.
10. Signing An Incorrect Card
This one is savage, but if you’re playing in a tournament and make a hole-in-one, only for your playing partner to mark it incorrectly on a scorecard you end up signing. Technically speaking — and heartbreakingly so — that’s no longer an official hole-in-one.
11. When You’re Not Keeping Score
You’re out there, having fun, playing a casual round and taking a few mulligans along the way. Then, you waltz up to a par 3 and knock it in the hole. It violates my rule of a hole-in-one needing to be a part of a legitimate round.
You could go back and count up your score, of course, but that presents a different problem.
12. After a Breakfast Ball
Alright, so you’re on the first tee, blow one out of bounds, take a customary breakfast ball and pipe it down the middle. Let’s say that’s your only mulligan of the day. Fast forward a few holes and you make a hole-in-one. This round wouldn’t hold up in a tournament, so does this hole-in-one count? No comment.
13. Double Green, Wrong Pin
Can’t make a hole-in-one on a hole that isn’t the one you’re playing. Simple.
14. In Front Of Tee Markers
It’s the Rules of Golf. If you tee off from in front of the tee markers, it’s not a legitimate shot. Would take a bold playing partner to call that on you, though.
15. Wrong Tee Markers
See above.
16. Borrowed Club
You grab your buddy’s club and knock it in the hole. Alas, that violates the Rules of Golf. So nice shot! But not a hole in one.
17. Bonus Holes
A fair amount of golf courses have bonus holes to help players settle bets, and they’re usually par 3s. Let’s say you’re all-square in a match after 18, so you play a bonus hole and make an ace. Great job, and even better story. But is that an official hole-in-one? Eh.
18. Using An Illegal Club
This doesn’t just not count, it’s also cheating. For shame!
19. If It’s Embedded Against The Lip
This one’s already been settled. It’s not a hole-in-one, because it’s embedded against the lip.
20. Miniature Golf or Video Game Golf
This one should be so obvious I’m not even going to bother explaining why.
21. Grounds For Any Other DQ
The common theme here is that true holes-in-one count only during legitimate, complete rounds which could count toward your handicap. We’ve tried outlining some of the most common ones, but wanted to include this catch-all for any others we have have missed.
By Luke Kerr-Dineen on Golf.com
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Bets & Babes: Betting on Birdies

In this latest episode of Bets and Babes join me and my special guest Robert from the World Series of Golf as we tee up a whole new way to think about betting on the green.
We break down golf betting basics, share hilarious stories and talk about how to bet in a way that might resonate with us ladies.
Whether you’re a total newbie or just curious how to make golf Sundays more exciting, this episode delivers fun, flirty, and smart tips to get you in the game. 🎧⛳💸
Click below to listen to the entire episode and leave your comments and suggestions for future episodes.
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The Bogey Man’s Guide to Accidental Course Exploration: Or, How I Found My Ball (Eventually) in the Rough of Life

Ah, golf. The gentle game of precision, patience, and occasionally, profound personal humiliation. You know, the kind that makes you question all your life choices, particularly the one where you decided to spend your Saturday morning chasing a tiny white ball around 18 acres of manicured torture.
Boo here, reporting live from the depths of a particularly thorny patch of “rough” that I’m fairly certain wasn’t on the course map. My mission? To recount a tale of a golf shot so spectacularly off-target, it became less about breaking par and more about breaking new ground. Literally.
It was a glorious Tuesday. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and my swing felt… well, it felt like something. I was on the par-4 7th, a hole notorious for its deceptive dogleg and a bunker that swallows balls faster than a hungry teenager devours pizza. My plan was simple: a nice, controlled fade, landing gently just short of the green. A textbook approach, really.
What actually happened was less “textbook” and more “abstract expressionism.” My driver, bless its misguided heart, decided that “fade” was merely a suggestion, and “controlled” was a concept best left to professional pilots. The ball, a brand-new, gleaming Titleist Pro V1 (because, you know, optimism), launched with the trajectory of a startled pheasant and veered sharply right. So sharply, in fact, it cleared the cart path, hopped over the maintenance shed, and disappeared into what I can only describe as a dense, untamed jungle previously known as “the woods bordering the 7th fairway.”
Now, a lesser golfer, a more sensible golfer, might have declared it lost, taken a drop, and moved on with their dignity mostly intact. But I, dear readers, am Mr. Bogey Man. And the Bogey Man doesn’t abandon his children, especially when they cost $5 a pop.
So, armed with a 7-iron (optimism again, clearly), a profound sense of misplaced determination, and a faint hope that perhaps a deer had picked it up and was using it as a chew toy, I plunged into the abyss.
The first five minutes were a blur of tangled vines, unseen roots, and the distinct feeling that I was being watched by small, judgmental woodland creatures. My pristine golf shoes quickly became mud-caked relics. My carefully tucked-in shirt became a casualty of low-hanging branches. I swear, I heard a squirrel snicker.
Then, a glimmer! A flash of white amidst the green. “Aha!” I cried, startling a family of robins. I pushed through a particularly stubborn bush, only to find… a discarded plastic water bottle. My heart sank faster than my last putt from 3 feet.
I pressed on, muttering to myself about the unfairness of golf, the existential dread of lost balls, and whether it was too late to take up competitive napping. Just as I was about to give up and declare the ball a permanent resident of the arboreal underworld, I saw it. Nestled perfectly at the base of an ancient oak, gleaming defiantly, was my Pro V1.
The triumph! The sheer, unadulterated joy! It was like finding the Holy Grail, if the Holy Grail was spherical and prone to slicing. I carefully extracted it, brushed off a few leaves, and held it aloft.
Then I looked around. I had no idea where I was. The fairway was a distant, hazy memory. The cart path? A myth. I was utterly, gloriously lost.
It took another fifteen minutes of bushwhacking, a brief but intense wrestling match with a particularly aggressive thistle, and the accidental discovery of what I’m pretty sure was a very old, very moldy sandwich, but I eventually stumbled back onto the course. My playing partners, who had long since finished the hole and were contemplating sending out a search party (or at least ordering another round of drinks), looked at me with a mixture of pity and amusement.
My score on the 7th? Let’s just say it involved a number that would make a mathematician weep. But the story? The adventure? The sheer ridiculousness of it all? Priceless.
So, the next time your ball decides to take an unscheduled tour of the local flora and fauna, don’t despair. Embrace it. See it as an opportunity for accidental exploration. You might not break 80, but you’ll definitely have a story. And isn’t that what golf is really about? (Besides the frustration, the lost balls, and the occasional snickering squirrel, of course.)
Until next time, keep those swings (mostly) in bounds, and remember: even a bogey can be an adventure.
Boo
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Make watching golf more interesting.
Does the idea of sports betting intimidate you? Stick with me and learn how to make watching sports with your partner more engaging and fun.

Hey there, ClickItGolf fam!
I’m the Sports Betting Babe, and I’m here to shake up your Sundays and sprinkle a little extra thrill on your tee times. I know most of the guys on here already love golf, but this one’s for the ladies, especially those of you who’ve been watching golf with your boyfriend or hubby and secretly thinking, “Wait, can I actually bet on this stuff?”
The answer is yes, you absolutely can and you should.
I’m going to make golf betting super easy to understand, a little sexy, and a whole lot of fun. You don’t need to be a pro or know who won the Ryder Cup in 1999. You just need to know how to make smart, simple bets and enjoy the ride.
Let’s Start with the Basics: How to Bet on Golf
Betting on golf is like picking your favorite brunch spot. You check the vibe, pick someone reliable, and hope it all works out. Here are the easiest ways to get started:
1. Pick the Winner (Outright)
This one’s like calling your shot. You’re betting on who will win the whole tournament. Odds are listed next to each golfer. For example, +1200 means a $10 bet would win you $120. Favorites are usually listed around +800 to +1400 and less favorites, or long shots, are usually +5000 and up. Big swings, big rewards.
2. Top 5 / Top 10 Finish
If you’re not ready to go all-in, no worries. These bets are like hedging your weekend plans – low commitment, still fun. Bet on a golfer to finish strong (in the top 5 or 10) instead of winning outright. It’s a safer bet, but still gives you a reason to cheer all weekend long.
3. Matchups
This one’s juicy. Sportsbooks will pit two golfers against each other, and you just pick which one finishes higher.
For example, if you see a matchup like Viktor Hovland vs. Tony Finau, and you think Viktor is trending hotter, bet on him to beat Tony. Even if neither of them wins, if Viktor finishes 8th and Tony finishes 9th, you win. It’s a simpler way to stay engaged without needing to track the entire tournament field because even if they’re not winning the tournament, you’re winning your bet. It’s low drama, high payoff.
Bonus? It’s a perfect way to gain low-key bragging rights during Sunday brunch.
4. Live Bets
Tournaments stretch over four days. That means the odds shift, players rise and fall, and you can jump in with bets mid-tourney. It’s like shopping sales in real time—see who’s hot in real time and grab the value before it’s gone.
Why Women Should Love Golf Betting
Golf is the perfect sport to ease into betting. It’s slow enough to follow, exciting enough to matter, and gives you tons of chances to win over the weekend. Plus, nothing gets a guy’s attention like a woman who casually drops, “I’ve got Rickie to finish top 10. Let’s go.”
You don’t need to know every stat or swing path. You just need to be curious, confident, and down to learn. The goal? Make betting approachable for women and show the guys we can hold our own.
Why I Love ClickItGolf
ClickItGolf is all about making golf more fun and accessible and I’m all about the same. Whether you’re here for gear deals, course perks, or just that perfect swing tip, this site is your clubhouse. Adding a little betting action into the mix? That’s just next-level fun.
So, ladies go grab your iced coffee, fire up the PGA app, and get ready to make golf weekends a lot more interesting.
Follow me here at ClickItGolf or on Instagram @sportsbettingbabe_official and let’s turn birdies into bankroll.
See you on the green (and in the winner’s circle).
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