Does a Hole-in-One on a Golf Simulator Count? Yes… Sorta.
“Does it count?”
Easily one of the most tired golf bait posts still clogging the internet.
A ball embedded in the lip.
The guy with no witness.
Or most unfortunate, the player who aces one indoors.
No illusion we’ll put all the tired posts to bed.
But it did hit us recently: we might actually be able to answer this question.
Objectively. Definitively.
So… you’re welcome.
The setup
Our Member-Guest has one week left. A couple teams got together last night and streamed their match on our social platform. The proverbial stage was set.
Music on, lights down.
Pinehurst No. 2, 6th hole. 170 out.
Member steps up, hits a gorgeous 5-yard draw all over the pin… lands on the front… tracking… boom—ball disappears.
Hole in one.
The place went absolutely nuts.
High-fives, yelling, jumping up and down like idiots.
Felt exactly like the two I’ve seen in my life—both outdoors.
Nothing about it felt anything less.
If it feels the same, is it the same?
That’s the real indoor golf question.
And with all the questions related to indoor golf and how it relates to outdoors, it often feels to me like people are asking the wrong question.
Seems like the focus should be on how any golf makes you actually feel.
And if the feeling is the same—inside or out? That’s real enough for me.
But I digress—even though that might be more meaningful than the little statistical rabbit hole I’m about to take you through.
Because the "does it count" question? We can now answer that definitively.
And not based on feelings… frankly the only way to answer this question as we’re about to is to remove feelings entirely from the equation.
Hole-in-One Odds: Golf Simulators vs Outdoors
We’ve got real data—across hardware (Bushnell, Foresight, Uneekor, Trackman), software (Foresight, GSPro, Trackman), and players (from scratch to 110+).
Over 1 million shots logged across all NN clubs. We track.
About 400,000 of those taken while playing actual rounds. We track that too.
So here’s the math:
- The National Hole-in-One Registry says the odds of a hole-in-one are 12,500 to 1.
(Let’s agree they mean par 3 tee shots—no average player is holing out with driver.) - We know our members average 86 outdoors. We’ve built the model to translate outside scores to inside based on skill level, and that 86 outdoors equals about 82 indoors.
- Divide 400,000 round shots by 82 = 4,878 total rounds played.
- Assume 4 par 3s per round (not official, but close enough cus there is no official number) = 19,512 par 3 tee shots.
- We’ve had 2 holes-in-one.
That’s 1 in 9,756—a bit more frequent than 1 in 12,500, sure.
But not wildly so.
So… does it count?
A simulator hole-in-one is about 28% more likely than one outdoors.
Which means, if we’re being objective:
It “counts” about 72% as much.
More likely? Yes.
Common? Still no.
And the feeling? Every bit the same.
Think it’d be fun to experience similar feelings yourself?
Consider moving into our neighborhood too:
- Become a member at a nearby club
Get Started → - Join when a club opens near you
Let Us Know → - Start your own club
Reach Out → - Not sure yet? Let’s talk
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