Does A Hole-In-One At A Par 3 Course Count? Only If You're Fine With Feeling An Abundance Of Shame Every Time You Bring It Up
It looks like JJ Watt had a nice little day with his parents yesterday on a local par 3 track. A level of wholesome which we should all aspire to achieve one day. Make sure to call your mom at some point today, she would love to hear from you.
But anyway, at some point during the round JJ was able to can his first ever career hole-in-one. We all dream about it every time we step up to a par 3. We all envision it happening. You hit the perfect shot that has the perfect shape that takes the perfect bounce with the perfect spin and it rolls right into the cup. More often than not, you end up hitting 3 inches behind the ball and now your 2nd shot on a par 3 is from 85 yards out. But JJ Watt was able to do the damn thing and got career ace numero uno.
Or at least depending on who you are talking to.
It's a very valid question to ask--does a hole-in-one count if it was at a par 3 course? Personally, I'd say hell yeah and anybody who has anything to say about it can just suck it. You still stepped up to a tee box, hit a single shot and watched the ball roll into the back of the cup. It's the exact definition of a hole-in-one.
But we also can't act like all aces are created equally. If you're playing a par 3 course, you're getting those wedges dialed. It's not like you have to go driver off the tee, 7 iron to the greenside rough, bladed wedge all the way across the green, bump and run to 15 feet, first putt to 6 feet and give yourself the most generous double-bogey ever. The par 3 course is just wedge and putter all day. You get more reps with it, you get it dialed, and inevitably you're going to stick one pretty tight. So there's definitely a little Mickey Mousery to that hole-in-one.
Really what it all comes down to is how much you give a shit about what anybody else thinks. It counts as a hole-in-one if you think it counts as a hole-in-one. But if you're standing on a tee box at a regular course and the question gets thrown around if anybody has ever hit an ace before, and your answer is "well...kind of", then I think that deep down you know the true answer. If you feel the need to qualify that it was hit on a par 3 course and you feel a little twinge of shame when admitting that, then I don't think it counts anymore.
Sidenote: I'm not sure what the worse fear is--hitting your first hole-in-one on a par 3 course, or doing it during a solo round.