A Missouri golfer has admitted faking a hole-in-one during a pairs competition after security footage showed him placing a ball in the cup before his round. Zach Holland, who plays off a near-professional plus-two handicap, confessed to the scam and resigned his membership at WingHaven Country Club.
How the scam unfolded
Holland put a ball in the cup at the fourth hole early in the morning before teeing off. He completed the first three holes, then told his group he had to make a phone call because his grandmother was ill. He said he would run ahead to the next tee and hit his shot to keep up with the pace of play.
When the rest of the group arrived at the par-three fourth, Holland coolly said he had hit his shot but did not know where the ball ended up. He then disappeared to make his call. His partner and opponents found his ball in the cup and celebrated what they thought was a hole-in-one.
Caught on CCTV
Staff at WingHaven Country Club in Missouri confronted him after finding security footage of him driving a car near the fourth hole before his tee-off time. Holland confessed, admitted he had 'completely made a fool' of himself, and told radio station 101 ESPN he had resigned his membership.
“You do something as dumb as I did - there are consequences for that,” he said. The tournament, where both players on a team had to be official members of the same golf club, included a hole-in-one prize pot.
No excuse, says golfer
Asked his motivation for the scam, Holland replied: “I don't really know. I've talked to people and there really is no motivation - just complete stupidity. There is no excuse for what happened.”
He said due to his low handicap, he and his playing partner had to knock two shots off whatever they scored under tournament rules to even out the competition. “We were giving two shots back to the field and I went about it just completely and utterly the wrong way,” he added.
Holland, a former college golfer, continued: “I made a terrible mistake - the lack of moral character. I can take the banter and the chatter because I deserve that from a golf perspective. But what I am most worried about is my family - breaking trust with a marriage I have had for five years next month. We have two kids that are under three and, you know, it's not fair to them for me to put them in that situation where they walk in a room. There is a stigma there that your dad…”
Asked if he had ever done anything like it before, he replied: “No, not to this extent.” When pushed to explain what he meant, he replied: “I'm not a cheater on the golf course. I made a bad decision and I have to suffer the consequences.”
Club responds
Nathan Charnes, general manager at WingHaven and acting president of the Professional Golfers’ Association of America, said the club had 'promptly addressed the matter' and they 'care deeply about the integrity of the game and the experience we provide for our members and guests'.
The incident comes a fortnight after cricket was hit by a similar scandal when Brian Devine, 38, was accused of getting opponents caught out by clicking his fingers to fake the sound of the ball brushing the bat. He has been suspended and his team Saltburn Cricket Club 2nd XI is under investigation over claims it used the trick to cheat its way to the top of the league.
