Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren boglebom Here. A standard regulation sized golf
Speaker 1: ball is a smidge smaller than one point seven inches
Speaker 1: that's four point three centimeters in diameter, or, for comparisons sake,
Speaker 1: just a little larger than your garden variety ping pong ball.
Speaker 1: The standard round cup that snuggles into an earthen hole
Speaker 1: on your run of the mill manicured green on any
Speaker 1: of the more than fifteen thousand golf courses in the
Speaker 1: United States or the more than thirty three thousand throughout
Speaker 1: the world, is by rule four point to five inches
Speaker 1: or ten point eight centimeters in diameter. Relatively small ball,
Speaker 1: relatively big hole. So what's the problem, said no one
Speaker 1: who has ever swung a club at a golf ball
Speaker 1: in their life. Golf is hard, certainly harder than the
Speaker 1: professionals make it look. And for proof other than trying
Speaker 1: it for yourself, that is, the non golfer should consider
Speaker 1: the holy grail of golf, the ever elusive, never foreseen,
Speaker 1: always magical hole in one. If golf is hard, the
Speaker 1: quest for a hole in one is downright cruel. The
Speaker 1: odds of it aren't quite hitting the lottery odds, but
Speaker 1: they might as well be To be sure, Pros like
Speaker 1: Bryson D. Shambo and Justin Thomas can pop an ace
Speaker 1: every once in a while, and they have on the
Speaker 1: same day at the most prestigious tournament in the world,
Speaker 1: the Masters, no less. But for your average golfer, let's
Speaker 1: go to the scorecard. According to the National Hole in
Speaker 1: one Registry, somewhere north of one hundred and twenty eight
Speaker 1: thousand holes in one are registered every year, which sounds
Speaker 1: like a lot, except golfers play somewhere around four hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty million rounds of golf every year. That means
Speaker 1: a hole in one is officially registered about once every
Speaker 1: three thousand, five hundred rounds around, generally being considered eighteen holes,
Speaker 1: though the United States Golf Association sometimes accepts a hole
Speaker 1: in one on a shortened round. So if you play
Speaker 1: a round of golf a day, it would take more
Speaker 1: than nine and a half years to get in three thousand,
Speaker 1: five hundred ounds. If you played twice a week, it'll
Speaker 1: take you more than thirty three and a half years
Speaker 1: to get in that many rounds. Another business national hole
Speaker 1: in one insurance, which provides protection to golf courses that
Speaker 1: give out prizes for holes and wondering competitions estimates that
Speaker 1: for your average player, the odds of holding out in
Speaker 1: one stroke are twelve thousand to one. A p G.
Speaker 1: A tour pro like d Hmbau or Thomas faces two thousand,
Speaker 1: five hundred to one odds on every chance at an ace.
Speaker 1: These numbers undoubtedly are a little soft. The United States
Speaker 1: Golf Association isn't exactly looking over every golfer's shoulder. Video
Speaker 1: proof is not required. A credible witnesses about all you need. Still,
Speaker 1: as any weekend duffer who's gone at the pen on
Speaker 1: par three knows just about any ace flat out cheating
Speaker 1: and Deover's nonwithstanding is a legit ace. Today's episode was
Speaker 1: written by John Donovan and produced by Tyler. Playing brain
Speaker 1: Stuff is a production of iHeart Radios How Stuff Works.
Speaker 1: For more on this and lots of other improbable topics,
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