This man has just hit this course’s first ever hole-in-one – and he’s the manager

It’s not that unusual for a golfer to hit a hole-in-one on a golf course – but when the golfer is the club’s secretary and nobody had ever done this before, then it becomes a story.

This is what happened to Simon Hentrich, secretary of Parley Golf Centre, opposite Bournemouth Airport, when he hit a hole-in-one on the club’s new course.

It was his first hole-in-one in more than 40 years and it was only the fourth time he’d ever played the course.

Simon Hentrich

A spokesman said he ‘jumped up and down and shouted’ as it dropped.

Using a pitching wedge on the 124-yard 17th hole he launched his ball that bounced before the flag then spun back from its second bounce and into the cup.

Simon, who has been a member of the club since 2013, said: “Every round until then on the new course I’d gone into the bunker, so I was determined to get it on the green.

“When I hit it I knew it would be safe and my playing partner was shouting ‘in the bunker, in the bunker’, and I said ‘no, in the hole!’

“It bounced before the hole then span back in. I jumped up and down and shouted – it’s my first ever hole-in-one, I couldn’t believe it.

“It cost me a few quid in the café-bar afterwards, but it was worth it.

“I was only on my fourth round of the course so I didn’t know the hole that well – I was just trying to avoid the bunker.

“And I’m delighted to have scored the first ever hole-in-one on the new course because it’s a record that can’t be broken.

“It’s a great new course with par three holes right through to a 624-yard par five and it’s playing really well. We would very much welcome new members.

“I currently have handicap of 11.3 and I want to get it down into single figures – so I need a few more holes-in-one.”

Parley is a ‘pitch-up-and-play’ course and is introducing a variety of new competitions this year.