'One Of Our Group Put 83 Balls In The Water' – We Set Out To Find The Highest Ever Single-Hole Score In Golf...

Golf can be a cruel taskmaster. Even the best suffer nightmare holes, just think of Tiger Woods (arguably the greatest player ever) making a seven-over-par 10 on the 12th at Augusta back in 2020.

In fact, there have been some incredible single hole scores in elite golf. The highest ever in the men’s pro game is thought to have been by Tommy Armour – a 23 in the 1927 Shawnee Open. Although the reports on that disaster are varying so it’s difficult to be absolutely certain that 23 was the number.

We know that Philippe Porquier made a 20 in the 1978 French Open after contracting a very bad dose of the shanks and other famous gargantuan scores include an 18 by big John Daly in the 1998 Arnold Palmer Invitational (six balls in the drink) and a 16 by Kevin Na in the 2011 Valero Texas Open involving some serious tree trouble.

But what about us mere mortals? I did some research and am prepared to face my own demons to bring you some stories of single hole catastrophes…

Your Author

It would be cowardly of me to write this piece without first owning up to my own worst score. It’s not a pleasant memory, even if it’s quite a colourful one, so I’ll type out the tale as quickly as possible and then attempt to pretend I never mentioned it. Here goes:

Playing in a club Medal about 10 years ago, I came to the par-5 sixth tee on a reasonable score. It’s always a tough drive for me as there are trees down the left side and out-of-bounds all up the right. I’m a fader of the ball so really I have to start the ball just inside the tree line and let it peel back. On this occasion, that didn’t happen.

Drive one was a monumental block that flew the houses lining the right side of the fairway and could well have bounced on the A93 Aberdeen to Perth trunk road. Three off the tee was slightly better but still comfortably out. Five off the tee was pretty darned good, I have to say. Nicely down the fairway and within range of the green. ‘If I can pop it on from here, I’ll give myself a look at bogey. What an escape that would be,’ I thought … Shank… out-of-bounds. A really good, high shank, one that probably flew nearly 200 yards. But a shank nonetheless.

Shot eight was very unlucky. It was only a minor block that took a criminal bounce off a section of hard pan, pinged up and to the right, over the dry-stone boundary wall and off the course. Shot 10 was short of the green. Shot 11 was knifed into a rhododendron bush through the back. There were no relief options from there, other than stroke and distance, so I tried again. Shot 13 was a lovely chip to a couple of feet, leaving a comfortable tap-in for a 14… There that’s it. And that’s that.

Golf Monthly Followers

We asked our followers on X to fess up about their highest ever scores. Some were quite honest, others a bit more reluctant to give the full truth. But there were some great answers. Here’s a selection of the best of them:

Michael Weston - 13. Treble shank onto a railway line. Up and down from greenside bunker to avoid a 14. Gritty. (Followed it up with a 9).

Ian Murgatroyd - Double bogey... Anything higher is instantly erased from my memory. Never happened.

Steve Haslam - I had a 12 on a 350 straight away Par 4. Included 1 lost ball (which I saw down), two flying the green OB, one pulled into the hazard left of the green. I couldn’t even be mad, 11 of the 12 shots were good connections, (pulled my first putt).

Terry Atkinson - My pal recorded a 70 on the first in a comp. Typo on computer, as he had a 7.

NothinBut9Wood - 13. First round, first tee of a two-day, stroke play tournament. I hit three straight drives OB to the left, two in the water short of the green, but had a lovely two-putt. At that point, my only goal was not to finish DFL, which I accomplished.

Neil MacDougall – 11. 10th at Milngavie in the Milngavie Open after going out in 35 (one over). Three out-of-bounds right onto Hilton Park golf course. Seven off the tee went into the cabbage, chopped out, 9th on green and two putts. Toys oot the pram!

William Lennon – 32. Playing from the 1st tee to the 9th green!

But the award goes to:

Charles Panco - The worst I did in a tournament was a 10. However, I played a tournament at TCP Sawgrass, and one of our group put 83 balls in the water on 17. He scored 165 on that hole I believe, I can't remember exactly.

Right so the best, or worst, that we have so far is 165 (or thereabouts). If anybody has recorded, or witnessed, anything worse than that then please let us know!