Golf is known to be a technical sport full of technical terms that you may not know the meaning of. One of those golf terms sometimes thrown out in conversation and television broadcasts is the word “Ace”.
If you are reading this article, you may wonder: What exactly does an “Ace” mean in golf?
In this article, we will explain to you exactly what an Ace is in golf, along with some examples to solidify your comprehension.
What Is An Ace In Golf?
In golf, an Ace refers to the completion of a golf hole with a single golf shot. For example, if a golf hole has a par 3 rating, completing it in 1 single golf stroke results in an Ace. An Ace is a synonym for a Hole-In-One.
In the great game of golf, the term “Ace” is a word that is extremely rare to hear. It is a lot more common to hear in mini-golf. However, when you hear the word “Ace”, it is usually on one golf holes with a lower par number, such as a par 3.
In golf, scoring an ace means that a golfer completed a golf hole while only requiring one stroke. For example, on a par 3 golf hole, completing the hole with 1 golf shot results in an “ace”.
A synonym for the term “Ace” is the term “Hole-in-one”.
A golfer is more likely to score an Ace on a shorter golf hole, meaning a hole that has less distance from the tee box to the golf hole. A shorter golf holes often correlates with a smaller par number.
This correlation is why Aces are more common on par 3 holes than on par 4 or par 5 holes. On the other hand, Aces are still incredibly rare regardless of the par number of a hole.
Considering the par number is the number of strokes it would take a really good golf player to finish a hole, you can understand how outstanding scoring an ace is on a par 3, par 4, or par 5 hole.
In fact, scoring an Ace requires extreme luck, but a high level of skill definitely increases the chances of scoring an Ace. To score an Ace, you need to strike a golf ball into a 4.25” wide hole whilst standing roughly 200-700 yards away from it. That is an incredible achievement.
You can read a real-world example of an Ace being scored, down below.
Example:
Joe is a professional golfer. He gets ready to tee off in front of a par 4 golf hole.
Joe hits the ball into the hole in only 1 stroke!
Therefore, as he completed the hole in a single shot, Joe scored an Ace.
To make things as simple as possible for you to know if you scored an Ace, refer yourself to the following chart:
| Par Number for the Hole | Exact Shots Taken to Get an Ace |
| 3 | 1 |
| 4 | 1 |
| 5 | 1 |
| 6 | 1 |
| 7 | 1 |
Scoring an Ace is an incredibly rare achievement to accomplish in golf. It will usually raise tremors of applause, shock, as well as cheer from the spectators in the crowd, as it is extraordinarily impressive to accomplish.
Scoring an Ace on a given golf hole means you required only one stroke to complete the hole.
Given that par 1 golf holes are essentially inexistent, scoring an Ace is always a better score than a scratch golfer is expected to score on a given golf hole; scratch golfers are defined as excellent golf players.
Aces are known to be mythically rare on a golf course, as opposed to bogeys, because they require an insane amount of luck to score.
However, there are still certain actions you can take to raise your likelihood of scoring an Ace, although you should not hold your breath. The only way to score an Ace is to land the ball very close to the flag within a single golf stroke. How is this relevant?
In fact, the higher the skill level of a golfer, the more opportunities to score an Ace they will have, as they can consistently land the golf ball closer to the flag than a beginner can.
If you do not have the required power to reach the flag after a single golf stroke, you will never score an Ace. To increase your power, you can read our golf-specific dumbbell workout here: Golf-Specific Dumbbell Workout.
Even amongst professional golfers, scoring an Ace is so rare. Like most people will never win the lottery, most people will never score an Ace within their lifetime.
If you want to stand a chance at scoring an Ace, you need to develop a very good long game and you need to be powerful and precise when driving a ball off the tee.
The term “Ace” comes from the Latin language and means “one”. Considering an “Ace” in golf means to complete a golf hole in one stroke, it makes sense why the Latin word for “one” would be used to name the act of scoring an “ace”
If you dream of one day scoring an Ace, it will take a lot of luck, and potentially hard work & dedication. If you would like to get better at golf in order to improve your chances at scoring an Ace, you can read our guide: How To Improve Your Golf Score? – 9 Pro Tips.
Conclusion
There you go! After reading this article, you have learned exactly what the word Ace means in golf. You also got to read some real-world examples to further improve your understanding of the meaning of an Ace.
Do you have any other words you wish to know more about? Have you ever scored an Ace? Do you dream of scoring an Ace? Let us know in the comments down below!
