clubchamp98
Journeyman Pro
How easy is a 147 or 9 darter in a howling gale and pissing down.?
with Four layers and a bobble hat on.
with Four layers and a bobble hat on.
KenL
Tour Rookie
Really? I've had 3. When I had my first, the guy I played with has had 13. He has always been an excellent golfer.Even some Pros never get a hole in one during their whole career!
My eldest brother started playing ten years ago and got a hole in one in his second year of playing! Lucky sod!!
To be fair I have read a number of articles over the years where tournament pros say they’ve never had a hole in one.
Voyager EMH
Slipper Wearing Plucker of Pheasants
I have 3 holes-in-one (or hole-in-ones). Two in competitions and one during a social game.
But that was in something like 12,000 attempts.
My games of snooker and darts come to not very much in comparison and never came anywhere near in either.
For similar scale devotees of the three games, number of attempts, level of skill etc, it is a very interesting thing to ponder.
If I was to set my mind to achieving one or the other, then I think my time would be best spent on the darts one. So I would say that is the least hard of those two.
I don't think I can now live long enough to become capable of a 147.
The thing is - just about anyone can flook a HiO, and whatever the amount of learned skill, a large element of luck is still involved.
But very unlikely the other two can be done by a flook.
Without any caveats, the HiO is the easiest - a complete novice could do it and that has happened. Not so the other two, I imagine.
But that was in something like 12,000 attempts.
My games of snooker and darts come to not very much in comparison and never came anywhere near in either.
For similar scale devotees of the three games, number of attempts, level of skill etc, it is a very interesting thing to ponder.
If I was to set my mind to achieving one or the other, then I think my time would be best spent on the darts one. So I would say that is the least hard of those two.
I don't think I can now live long enough to become capable of a 147.
The thing is - just about anyone can flook a HiO, and whatever the amount of learned skill, a large element of luck is still involved.
But very unlikely the other two can be done by a flook.
Without any caveats, the HiO is the easiest - a complete novice could do it and that has happened. Not so the other two, I imagine.
jim8flog
Journeyman Pro
I played darts from about the age of 6 to my late 20s and I have never had a 180 let alone the two needed for a 9 darter (I did play when darts were brass with large flights once you had two in the 60 there was really not room for another so my best was 3 darts was a 177) I did play fo a short time with tungsten ones.
I played snooker from about the age of 8 to my mid 30s to a good club league division 1 the best I could muster was a 54.
I have had 3 holes in one so an easy answer for me.
If we are talking pros given how many frames they actually play a 147, there are many tournaments without one.
I played snooker from about the age of 8 to my mid 30s to a good club league division 1 the best I could muster was a 54.
I have had 3 holes in one so an easy answer for me.
If we are talking pros given how many frames they actually play a 147, there are many tournaments without one.
Friend of mine has had 6 hole in ones, and never been lower than 14 h’cap. Doesn’t hit a long ball but hits it arrow straight. Rarely misses a week without a 2 but even medium length par 4’s are a struggle.
This is another reason why the original question is virtually impossible to answer, as we are all approaching it from different angles.
I absolutely agree that the number of tournament 147’s is limited, but I would imagine that, in practice, they are relatively common. I believe Willie Thorne claimed to have made in the region of 200 maximums in practice, and whilst the figure may be exaggerated I don’t doubt there’s an element of truth to it! I would be very surprised if there is a tournament snooker player out there who hasn’t had one at some point. The articles I referred to in an earlier post included comment by pro golfers who said they’d never had an ace, period.
Ultimately, if there is one thing this thread proves it is that there is no simple answer to the question!
Orikoru
Tour Winner
147 for me as well. Firstly the the hole in one can be achieved by luck whereas the other two cannot. And it's only one single shot. A nine darter is difficult but it's nine more-or-less identical shots, whereas the 147 is 36 shots, with plenty of variables due to angle, length, etc.
HPIMG
Active member
Plenty of bad golfers have had hole in ones. Never has a bad snooker player got a 147 and I don’t know anything about darts.
147s are much rarer than people think. I remember an interview years ago with Mark King, a journeyman pro but nonetheless probably spent a decade or so in top 32.
He had 2 his whole career, all in practice. He said it made him sick hearing Ronnie had one playing alternate hand each shot and apparently Hendry used to always try and double the black in practice!
I reckon less than 500 people have ever made one.
He had 2 his whole career, all in practice. He said it made him sick hearing Ronnie had one playing alternate hand each shot and apparently Hendry used to always try and double the black in practice!
I reckon less than 500 people have ever made one.
Jigger
Club Champion
I depends on the skill level. Top dart players hit 9 darters regularly but at amateur level I’d expect it to be rarer than a hole in one. Likewise for snooker.
At amatuer level a hole in one can be a single fluke shot whereas putting a sequence of 9 darts or potting 36 balls would be much tougher I reckon.
At amatuer level a hole in one can be a single fluke shot whereas putting a sequence of 9 darts or potting 36 balls would be much tougher I reckon.
Slab
Occasional Tour Caddy
Bit of a (loaded) skewed question. The achievements aren’t comparable. To compare the result of a single shot in golf to the result of multiple shots/throws in other sports is meaningless.
You’d have to look at something like achieving 9 consecutive birdies to get close to comparison levels, because as pointed out ‘luck’ can supply a HIO since it is just a single strike. But flukes occur in all those sports for any single instance of hitting/throwing… but since all the others take place in a controlled environment with predetermined temperature/light levels and no impact from wind/rain and with exactly the same sized (comparatively tiny) playing surface/distances involved every single time, then the 'perfect score' in golf (even on just half a game) is way way harder than any of the others
You’d have to look at something like achieving 9 consecutive birdies to get close to comparison levels, because as pointed out ‘luck’ can supply a HIO since it is just a single strike. But flukes occur in all those sports for any single instance of hitting/throwing… but since all the others take place in a controlled environment with predetermined temperature/light levels and no impact from wind/rain and with exactly the same sized (comparatively tiny) playing surface/distances involved every single time, then the 'perfect score' in golf (even on just half a game) is way way harder than any of the others
sweaty sock
Hacker
Pretty sure Mark Williams (of snooker fame) claims to have done all 3, and rates it as 147, 9 darter, hole in one.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
Might I suggest the differentiator that most hole in ones are not the intended and expected outcome of a deliberate action. I suspect that even the top pros do not stand on the tee of a par 3 intending and expecting to hit the ball into the hole. They, like the rest of us, will intend to hit the ball as close to the hole as they can, and then hope that the vagaries and uncertainties of the weather and the green will assist in achieving that intention, and if it goes in the hole…what a result!
147s and 9 darters seem achievable intentions, one pot or throw at a time the top player will intend and expect to successfully execute their pot or throw.
147s and 9 darters seem achievable intentions, one pot or throw at a time the top player will intend and expect to successfully execute their pot or throw.
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Bdill93
Undisputed King of FOMO
300 in Bowling for me....
On the basis that without knowing it, we all retire from bowling around the ages of 11-15 and rarely play again.
On the basis that without knowing it, we all retire from bowling around the ages of 11-15 and rarely play again.
sjw
Well-known member
That's because hole-in-ones are basically luck
LincolnShep
Head Pro
No novice ever got a 147, or 9 dart finish through luck. I could get a hole-in-one tomorrow, and I'm awful!
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sweaty sock
Hacker
I was basically going on experience, I know loads of people with hole in ones, many with little to no talent.
I know 2 people with 9 darters, both good club/county level players.
I know zero players with a century break, never mind a 147.
You could look at it a different way i suppose. Steven hendry recently on his you tube channel stated he made a 147 about once a week in practice, and id assume the van gerwins of the world knock 9 darters in with frightening regularity at home. Nobody is making a hole in one every week....
I know 2 people with 9 darters, both good club/county level players.
I know zero players with a century break, never mind a 147.
You could look at it a different way i suppose. Steven hendry recently on his you tube channel stated he made a 147 about once a week in practice, and id assume the van gerwins of the world knock 9 darters in with frightening regularity at home. Nobody is making a hole in one every week....
Voyager EMH
Slipper Wearing Plucker of Pheasants
Would it be worth running this thread again and changing the hole-in-one to another comparable golfing feat?
Not sure what that would be though?
Gary Wolstenholme played in the Leicestershire County Championship one year at Willesley Park. He won.
He started his first round with 5 consecutive birdies on holes 1 to 5.
His two rounds on the day got him from +3 to +4 handicap.
So maybe 6 consecutive holes in 6 under par or better - might be comparable - or is that just too hard?
Not sure what that would be though?
Gary Wolstenholme played in the Leicestershire County Championship one year at Willesley Park. He won.
He started his first round with 5 consecutive birdies on holes 1 to 5.
His two rounds on the day got him from +3 to +4 handicap.
So maybe 6 consecutive holes in 6 under par or better - might be comparable - or is that just too hard?
Bdill93
Undisputed King of FOMO
Literally achieved this weekend by pros playing the match play...
