5.8-handicap golfer makes an ace — then adds 2 more odds-defying shots

Tyler Darling, a 45-year-old Vermonter with a 5.8 handicap index, made a hole-in-one and two albatrosses over four rounds — a streak that one calculation puts at 1 in 14.5 quadrillion.

Darling, who lives in Irasburg near the Canadian border, has been a member of Orleans Country Club for 25 years. The owner of a log-home building company typically works half-days on Tuesdays so he can play a morning 18 before his evening men’s-league match.

The first feat came Aug. 25. On Orleans Country Club’s 157-yard, par-3 third hole, Darling hit an 8-iron. The ball landed just past the hole and spun back toward the edge of the green. When Darling turned away, the ball disappeared into the cup. It was only the second ace of his life. His first came in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when no one was around to celebrate. This time, he had two witnesses and a clubhouse full of celebrants.

“It was right before men’s league, the course was busy,” Darling said. “They used to have hole-in-one insurance, but they don’t anymore.”

Darling happily covered the $387 bar tab.

A few days later, Darling played another round at Orleans. On Sept. 1, he teed it up again with the same partners. On the 485-yard, par-5 11th, the long hitter drove the ball about 300 yards. With 187 yards remaining, he hit a 7-iron and liked the ball’s direction. He never saw it finish, however, because a rise in the fairway blocked the landing area.

After the group searched around the green without finding Darling’s ball, they checked the final place it could be: the hole. There it was. Darling had made the first albatross of his life — a 2 on a par-5.

But it was not his last.

On Sept. 8, two weeks after the ace and one week after the first albatross, Darling returned to Orleans for another men’s-league match. On the 450-yard, par-5 fourth, he smoked a drive and left himself 120 yards to the pin.

He took a gap wedge — and produced more magic. The ball found the hole for another albatross. Once again, Darling did not see the hole-out because the green was elevated, but he did have a witness in his group.

Orleans publicized Darling’s achievement on Facebook, prompting many commenters to encourage him to buy lottery tickets.

“I don’t play that game,” Darling said with a laugh. “I’m pretty sure I used it all up.”

Darling’s friend Peter Laferriere, who enjoys working with numbers, calculated the odds. His model assumed six rounds over two weeks, giving a golfer 24 par-3 opportunities and 24 par-5 opportunities. The probability of making at least one hole-in-one over 24 trials was based on odds of 1 in 12,500, while the probability of making at least two albatrosses was based on odds of 1 in 6 million.

Multiplying those probabilities produces an estimate of roughly 1 in 14.5 quadrillion — or 14,500,000,000,000,000 to 1. By that calculation, Darling’s streak was 42 million times less likely than winning the Mega Millions jackpot. Even if Darling were an elite scratch golfer, with the baseline odds of an albatross reduced to 1 in 1 million, the odds of this specific two-week run would still be about 410 billion to 1.

GOLF.com did not independently verify Laferriere’s math, but noted that the odds are unquestionably astronomical.

What is left for Darling to accomplish, apart from perhaps a trip to Las Vegas?

“I’ve never holed out from the fairway on a par-4,” Darling said.

At this rate, he may only be a week or two away.