Kings Golf Club’s Ian Macrae celebrates third hole-in-one of the 2024 summer season
A member at Kings Golf Club has achieved a remarkable hat-trick – hitting three holes-in-one in a matter of months.
Ian Macrae, a retired electrician off-shore, holed from the tee at the 10th hole earlier this month during Kings’ Bill Mackenzie competition.
That added to aces at the 16th back in April and the seventh hole at the end of June, putting Macrae’s name on the honours board at Kings three separate times with all of the shots coming during competition.
A former Torvean member, the 70-year-old carded a hole-in-one years ago, but getting so many in such a short space of time is certainly unprecedented in his time playing golf.
“I hit it at the 10th and I thought it looked good,” Macrae recalled.
“It took a couple of bounces and rolls in. A lot of it is just luck with a hole-in-one, but it’s nice to get them.
“To get three is amazing. A lot of players play their entire life and never get one, so to get three in a matter of months is unbelievable.
“For the first one I hit in April, I actually never saw it myself. One of the boys I was out with said it was close, and when we got up there it was in the hole.
“To tell the truth, the second one was the same. I didn’t see that going in either – I thought I had lost it in the sand, but one of the boys standing at the side said it was close, and then that it had disappeared and it was in.
“The boys were over the moon every time, it’s always nice to see someone getting one. Now they are egging me on to get a hole-in-one at the 13th, which is another par three, so that I can complete the lot.”
Hitting three holes-in-one was made all the more remarkable by Macrae not feeling in particularly special form, and he is naturally still on a high from the latest ace.
“My game has been up and down to tell the truth,” he admitted.
“You’re always trying to improve your game if you can, but obviously when you get a bit older you’re using clubs you didn’t use years ago because you lose a bit of distance as you get older.
“I’m delighted to get the holes-in-one, and to get three in one season is unbelievable.
“Some boys play all their life and never get near one, and they are probably better golfers than me.
“There’s a lot of luck involved, but you’ve still got to hit them. I’m honestly over the moon, as are a lot of my mates. I’ve had a bit of ribbing for it, but people at the clubhouse are still talking about it.”
