Hole-in-one witnesses

[Gomer]

We only take hole-in-ones from the golf clubs, never from the individuals. edit: we don't take down the witnesses because we only talk to people at the clubs we know personally

To answer the original question, who cares? The people, their friends and family members care. Even if all it takes up is one line of agate, that's a line well-worth it if it means we expose 10 or 15 people to the paper that day who normally wouldn't read, and umpteen more who like seeing if they know someone who got an ace.

 

[Bubbler]

I understand the need to have witnesses attached to a hole-in-one, I understand the need for a golf club to include them so you don't get bogus aces.

I DON'T understand the need for US to print them. Isn't that extraneous information we need in-house, but that can just be edited out for publication?

We'll see, because I'm trying it.

 

[Bud_Bundy]

As an aside, quite a few papers print the holes-in-one without witnesses, but they only take them from the clubs, who presumably have ascertained that each one is legitimate.

That's what we do. We dumped printing witnesses several years ago. No complaints that I know of.

 

[jps]

We print it because that's the crap that people care about. Our page with the hole in one, transactions, etc., is one of the first in the section to be read and is widely popular.

 

[ServeItUp]

We run them with or without witnesses and I don't like it one bit. Let me say in advance that I was a cynical m.f. before I got into the business but let's face it — any shirthead can say he got a hole-in-one.

We run 'em on our golf page every week.

 

[Pencil Dick]

Making a hole-in-one with no witnesses would suck. And I know one poster here who claims to have done that, on a very, very difficult hole.


As for free stuff, my father made one and got a plaque from Johnny Walker, which he very well might have been drinking at the time of his only career ace. He also received a dozen free Top-Flites, which I'm sure his then high school-age son swiped from him soon afterward.

 

[CaliforniaRed]

Hole-in-one reports are one of my favorite things in a newspaper. And yes, you've got to run the witnesses.

 

[buckweaver]

If I ever make a hole-in-one (unlikely because I rarely play now) but if I ever do ... I want my name in the local paper. Abso-forking-lutely. One of the highlights of a golfer's entire life.

 

[Freelance Hack]

For those papers that run the aces, do you put them in the agate? community news? or a golf notebook?

 

[Oscar Madison]

I don't get how the hole witness thing is supposed to keep everyone honest. What stops a guy from saying to his buddies on the 18th green, "That shot on the 15th should have gone in, but (fill in the excuse here). Can't we just say it was a hole in one." If you think that hasn't happened than you are fooling yourself,

 

[finishthehat]

I don't get how the hole witness thing is supposed to keep everyone honest. What stops a guy from saying to his buddies on the 18th green, "That shot on the 15th should have gone in, but (fill in the excuse here). Can't we just say it was a hole in one." If you think that hasn't happened than you are fooling yourself,

And why can't they just say that to the golf-course staff, who would then phone it in and the paper would think it's legit? (I'm not a golfer, so there may be a good answer I'm not aware of.)

 

[bydesign77]

You are right, there's no way to guarantee that the truth is being told. The sport of golf is like that. Players call the penalties on themselves. There are no officials to monitor their play.

You have to hope that the idea of it being a gentleman's game would trump someone's desire to claim he achieved the sports ultimate accomplishment.

That being said, when they have these $1,000,000 hole-in-one contest, there are many safety features that the insurance companies require. Usually, they include a uniformed police officer and PGA professional present, along with two other witnesses and a video tape recording of the feat.