Martin Kaymer recounts his lake-skip hole-in-one on the 16th hole before the start of the 2012 Masters
This morning on Golf Monthly’s Twitter feed from the 2014 Masters, some content that generated a lot of interest was an abbreviated account of Martin Kaymer’s 2012 hole-in-one on the 16th hole at Augusta National. It was a rare shot in more ways that one, and so here is Kaymer’s full recollection, given at an event with Mercedes-Benz guests at Augusta.
“This is a bit of an embarrassing story,” started Kaymer, “but I will tell you.
“I had arranged to play with Tom Watson on the Monday morning before the 2012 Masters, but I only had practice balls from the driving range because my regular balls had not arrived in my locker yet. I was in a hurry so I just took eight or 10 range balls to the course.”
In keeping with tradition of practice rounds at Augusta National, Watson and Kaymer both attempted to skim bouncing shots across the lake on the 16th hole.
“We arrived on 16 and skimmed some balls,” continued Kaymer. “My shot looked quite nice, and you are always lucky if your ball actually bounces out onto the green, which mine did. As I started walking to the green, I saw my ball run down the green and into the hole for a hole-in-one.”
The 16th hole always attracts a packed gallery, even for practice, and when Kaymer’s ball dropped into the hole, the crowd erupted.
“I went and picked the ball out of the hole,” added Kaymer, “and as I walked off the green all the fans were yelling at me to throw them the ball, and I was thinking, ‘Oh no, it’s a practice ball’. The ball had ‘PRACTICE’ printed right across it. I didn’t want to, but eventually I threw the ball into the crowd and the guy who caught it looked at the ball, and shouted, ‘Dude, you can’t afford your own golf balls?’”
Robin Barwick travelled to Augusta National courtesy of Mercedes-Benz, Global Sponsor of the 2014 Masters Tournament
