Who has had the most hole-in-ones?
The common answer to who has the most hole-in-ones has changed since I were a lad. Not because people have been amassing huge quantities of holes in one to overtake previous record holders, but because the previously commonly accepted answer has rather fallen from favour. Years ago the answer given was normally Norman Manley and 59 holes in one.
However for a hole in one to count it has to be witnessed and be part of an actual round of golf. Norman Manley’s total has stopped being cited due to uncertainty as to how many of his declared aces actually match this criteria. So now, it is “generally accepted” that the most holes in one is 51 by Mancil Davis.
Mancil Davis made many of his holes in one as a child. He had 20 aces by his 20th birthday. He tried to get on the PGA Tour and had a season on the Canadian Tour, but in his own words, his problem was “hitting irons like Doug Sanders and drives like Colonel Sanders.” He became an assistant pro at at Woodlands Inn and Country Club in Texas, where Doug Sanders was Director of Golf, and where Davis would play with golfing biddies Willie Nelson and Evel Knievel.
When insurance salesman John Everhart spotted a gap in the market for hole-in-one insurance he approached Art Wall, the Masters champion of 1959, and maker of 41 holes in one, to help market it. But Wall was out of his price range. Shortly afterwards Everhart read a newspaper article about a Texas pro who had just made his 33rd ace: Mancil Davis. He and Davis, now dubbed “The King of Aces” by Everhart, teamed up to promote the product, Davis’ role being personal appearances at trade shows and golf events.
The PGA Tour only started recording holes in one specifically in 1983. So some earlier holes in one have been lost to the mists of time, although some pre-1983 ones have become part of the official record. So no-one can be totally certain who has made the most holes in one on the PGA Tour either. But the most recorded hole in ones are 10, by Robert Allenby and Hal Sutton.
The figure for the European Tour is also 10, achieved by a 51-year-old Miguel Angel Jimenez at BMW PGA Championship in 2015 when he surpassed Colin Montgomerie’s 9. But the most holes in one on mainstream tour is 11, by Kathy Whitworth, who holds the LPGA record.
