It’s a family affair as John joins the club

Three members of the same family have each scored a hole-in-one at Sonning GC, in Berkshire – two of them on the same hole.

The latest was dad John Eighteen, 62, a member at the club for 25 years – and  the only one of the trio to be rewarded for his efforts with a stunning BOSS watch courtesy of the BOSS Watches H1Club.

And, while the hole’s designation has changed down the years, John’s daughter also achieved a hole-in-one on it.

His ace came recently on the 160-yard, par-three 15th.  Back in May 1992, his daughter Claire-Marie also aced the hole – then masquerading as the fourth – when just five days short of her 15th birthday. And, to round off a sequence of family successes, in 2001, his wife, Christine, aced the 16th, which is now the ninth.

John, a 16-handicapper, explained: “I’ve been a member of Sonning Golf Club for more than 25 years and my wife and two daughters have also been members for some of that time. My daughter Claire-Marie  had a hole-in-one on the very same hole, so we will both be on the hall-of-fame board in the clubhouse.

“My wife also had a hole-in-one, but this was on a temporary green and therefore did not qualify; but it deserves a mention as it seems to be something in the family genes. It could be said that the Eighteen family’s lucky number is 15 at Sonning.”

BOSS, the luxury German brand, has once again pledged to reward club golfers with an exclusive watch for every hole-in-one recorded during a club competition in 2015, after giving away more than £1.4m-worth of limited-edition timepieces since its launch in 2013 – and Eighteen is among the latest to achieve the feat this year.

The scheme is open to any golfer whose club uses HowDidiDo – a free-to-use, web-based social network for golfers – and anybody playing in official club competitions is eligible. Currently, more than 1,800 clubs use the website.