Lightning strikes twice, albeit four years apart

A hole-in-one is rare enough, but for father and son, Mandy and Shaul Yachad, to have achieved this feat on the same hole at the same golf course on the same day four years apart is a one-in-a-144-million chance. 

They each aced the ninth hole at Houghton Golf Club, using the same club, their 9 iron, turning what would’ve already been a memorable golfing achievement into an extraordinary coincidence. Shaul made his hole-in-one on 31 July 2022, while his father, Mandy, made his on 31 July 2026. 

Mandy, a former Proteas cricketer, rarely plays golf on a Friday because of Shabbat, but he decided to join a four-ball game that morning. The only time he had managed a hole-in-one was 28 years before at Killarney.  

“I think the pin placement on Houghton’s ninth hole was pretty much the same as when Shaul got his hole-in-one. It was back right or back middle, and I hit a 9 iron. I knew I’d hit a good shot, and one of my playing partners said that it got in the hole. I saw it bounce on the green, but I didn’t actually see it go into the hole. My eyesight isn’t great from that distance, but a caddy near the green started waving his hands, so I knew it had gone in,” he said.   

As he walked down to the green, he messaged Shaul to tell him he’d made a hole-in-one, because he knew he had done it on the same hole some time ago. After they finished the hole, Shaul sent him a picture of his hole-in-one certificate. Mandy looked at it and realised it was dated 31 July 2022, exactly four years earlier, on the same hole, using the same club.  

For Shaul, the hole-in-one four years ago had been equally unexpected.  

“It wasn’t something that I had ever given much thought to. It‘s not something you really aim for; you kind of just try and keep your ball out of the water and see what happens,” he said. “So I was absolutely over the moon. And now that I know I’ve done it, I keep trying to do it, but I think it just gets harder.” 

They both said getting a hole-in-one isn’t determined only by skill and hitting a good shot. Shaul described it as “95% mazel and 5% a lot of mazel”. 

“There are certain holes-in-one where the golfer completely misses the shot, it runs along the ground and, with no obstructions between the tee and the green, somehow goes into the hole. But I’d say the majority of holes-in-one come from really good shots. There’s still a lot of luck involved, though. If you’re hitting from 140m or 150m and have to land the ball in a hole that small, there’s obviously an element of luck,” said Mandy 

“I think both our shots were decent because, if you know Houghton’s ninth hole, there’s water in front. You can’t just hit a bad shot and expect it to work out. You have to hit a good shot, but there’s still a lot of luck involved,” he said.  

Making the hole-in-one was itself an achievement, but it was made even more special by doing so on the same date. 

“Although I had got a hole-in-one before, you don’t really expect it. It’s something you’d love to have. So, to get a second one was amazing in and of itself. But the fact that it happened on the same day, on the same hole, at the same course, with the same club, it’s beyond nature,” Mandy said.