Why my caddie is a disappointed man!

It has been a while I blogged on golf. There was nothing to blog (brag?) about. But today proved to be memorable! ALMOST had a hole-in-one! A golfer knows the feeling when he has hit that very rare perfect shot! The swing feels smooth and the ball raises smoothly as it is hit sweetly, we call it the sweet spot in the club, and drops a few yards in front of the hole and rolls gently and suddenly disappears from your sight.
As I saw the ball disappear from my sight, I thought 'my god I have a hole-in-one'! It was hole no. 5, 183 yards! To a non-golfer it means I  put the ball into the hole with my first shot from the tee box. Usually this happens on a par 3 hole. You are normally expected to do it in three shots!

The moment was thrilling and I looked at my caddy for confirmation! He shook his head dejectedly, as he could see, from where he stood, the ball a little beyond the hole. He could not believe it! While I was disappointed, he looked crestfallen!

We walked towards the green and I saw  the ball just six inches away from the hole. It was a mystery why the ball did not go in! Then I heard the caddy curse and I cannot quote him in this blog. He had solved the mystery, the flag pole was not straight and was very slightly tilted, so the ball deflected a little instead of dropping into the hole. I asked him 'are you sure' and the caddy demonstrated to prove it. He rolled the ball towards the flag and the ball hit the pole and dropped! And I heard him curse once more, he was really mad at the caddy who had placed the flagpole a little tilted.

The other players with me congratulated me for this almost a hole-in-one. Rangan said 'a birdie itself is tough and it is all luck if it gets better. Anyway you have saved money!'  It is a convention that all those in the club are treated for a drink. Actually not too many at that time. Unni explained further that in our club, BGC, it is the convention that all the caddies get a plate of biryani! And the crestfallen caddie added that the individual caddy is given a big tip. At least one or two thousand rupees! He added 'One club member gave 20,000 rupees!' No wonder he was so dejected.

I understand we can cover ourselves with a hole-in-one insurance. May be not as I read that actuaries have calculated the chance of an average golfer making a hole in one at approximately 12,500 to 1. Now that I almost made it,  that is a long way off.