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An Ace with Clubs
Mocksville's Barnhardt has amassed an amazing 30 holes-in-one
Journal Photo by David Rolfe
Gray Barnhardt holds up the ball he hit for his 30th hole-in-one.
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Published: May 17, 2008
Gray Barnhardt feels a little guilty.
Golfers can go their whole lives without ever having a hole-in-one. Then there is Barnhardt, 71, who lives in Mocksville and is a regular at Wilshire Golf Course.
He got his 30th hole-in-one last week.
"I realize folks who golf a lot don't ever have one," said Barnhardt, who works part time at Foxwood Golf Course in Salisbury. "I don't really like to tell that many people that I've had so many of them because that would be like bragging."
Barnhardt didn't take up the game until he was 35, but that didn't last long.
"The first time I ever played was nine holes at Pinehurst No. 2, and I lost a dozen golf balls," he said. "Then I quit right there and didn't play again until I was around 40."
That's when the golf bug hit him in a big way. He doesn't remember his first hole-in-one, and he said that they all kind of run together.
But making 30 aces in a span of 31 years is a rare feat.
"I had two in one week at Twin Cedars, but that was about 15 years ago," he said.
After he reached 50, Barnhardt tried the Champions Tour qualifying school twice, but never made it. Instead, he remained an amateur and carved out a niche as a hole-in-one expert.
"I wouldn't call myself an expert," he said with a laugh. "I've just been a little lucky, but there is some skill involved."
Barnhardt has a lot more aces than some familiar names in the game such as Jack Nicklaus, who has 20, and Gary Player, who has 19. Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods each have 18.
Barnhardt said that all of his aces have been legitimate, and there have always been witnesses. He also said there have been no crazy bounces off rocks or cart paths.
Because Barnhardt has played at so many courses, he has trouble remembering where all of his aces have come. He said that Hillcrest, which closed a few years ago, was one of his favorite places to play, and he had a number there. He also had two double eagles at Hillcrest.
"They say the double eagles (a two on a par-5) are more rare than a hole-in-one," he said with pride.
Barnhardt got his 30th ace last week when he hit a 6-iron 155 yards into the No. 18 hole at Wilshire. He had promised himself that when he got to No. 30 he would quit the game.
"I had a stroke about two years ago, and that kind of slowed me down," he said. "But this was my second hole-in-one since the stroke."
He used to have a collection of all of his hole-in-one balls, but a few years ago he misplaced most of them when he moved to another house.
U.S. Hole In One, a company that insures hole-in-one contests, said that the odds of an amateur making a hole-in-one is 12,500 to 1 and for a pro golfer 7,500 to 1.
Barnhardt plays to a plus-1 handicap.
The downfall to having made so many aces is the strain it has put on Barnhardt's wallet. Tradition dictates that anybody who makes a hole-in-one must buy everybody in the clubhouse a drink.
"I've done that a lot," he said. "The other day when I had it, I tried to keep it quiet, but that didn't work. So I bought everybody a drink."
As for giving up the game now that he has a nice round number of aces, Barnhardt said he'll probably keep playing. He was back at Wilshire on Thursday morning.
"I'll keep playing," he said. "I still love the game too much."
■ John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or at jdell@wsjournal.com.
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