England’s Andrew Johnston was celebrating a first Tour hole-in-one when he aced the par three 11th hole on route to a three under par 69.
Johnston earned himself 168 bottles of French champagne, and one bottle for each of the 168 yards of the par three.
But the effort was all the more remarkable given Johnston’s playing partner, Phil Price of Wales aced the same hole in the same round 12 months ago and also went home with 168 bottles of bubbly in his car boot!
Johnston, a Challenge Tour Graduate from 2011, went on to shoot a creditable opening 69 and admitted that he couldn’t believe his eyes when the ball dropped. The man from Middlesex, whose grandfather is Jamaican and who carries the Jamaican flag as the identifying feature on his golf ball, laughed: “I knew my eight iron was good but I just kept urging the ball to keep going.
“When it dropped I just jumped around a bit and enjoyed the moment. It was funny when Phil then turned round and said: ‘I did that last year’. It’s an incredible coincidence, but we can both take away great memories of the 11th hole.
“It’s brilliant to win all that champagne, but I’ve asked Laurent Perrier for some bottles of pink champagne to help celebrate my girlfriend, Louise’s 21st birthday next month.”
Andrew Johnston wins 168 bottles of bubbly for first Tour ace. (Photo - www.golfbytourmiss.com)
