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Most golfers will go their entire lives without knowing what it’s like to drain a hole-in-one. Mathew Barzal was still looking to check that box when he hit the links toward the end of July, but the Islanders forward now has two of them under his belt after a week that will be very hard to top.
I’ve written plenty of articles about people who’ve managed to get a hole-in-one, and I tend to start all of them off by pointing to the statistic provided by the PGA of America that estimates the average golfer has a 1-in-12,500 chance of making one when they step up to the tee box on a par-3.
Those odds can change a bit based on a number of different factors, and talent is obviously the one that plays a bigger role in increasing your chances more than anything else; they’re “only” 1-in-3000 for someone who’s good enough to play on the PGA Tour, while they’re closer to 1-in-5,000 for a low handicap player.
Mathew Barzal definitely checks that second box, as the New York Islanders star who’s punched his ticket to the All-Star Game on four occasions makes a living in the NHL but can also hold his own on the golf course when you consider the USGA’s GHIN records show he’s currently sporting a handicap of 2.3 and peaked at 1.8.
That’s certainly nothing to scoff at, but his skill hadn’t translated to the hole-in-one that had managed to elude him heading into the current offseason. However, that is firmly no longer the case.
Islanders forward Mathew Barzal made two holes-in-one in the span of six days
Most people will never get the chance to play at Deepdale Golf Club, the exclusive enclave William K. Vanderbilt II originally founded in Manhasset, New York a little more than a century ago that reportedly boasted an initiation fee of $100,000 in 2004 (a number that has almost undoubtedly risen since then).
However, Barzal earned that privilege earlier this month while playing multiple rounds over the course of a week, and according to a post he shared on Instagram, he got the first hole-in-one of his life on the 6th hole that was playing 117 yards six days before getting his second on the 17th that was a bit more formidable with a pin located 220 yards from the tee.
How about sinking your first two aces six days apart? ⛳️
Mathew Barzal did that.
(🎥: IG/barzal97) pic.twitter.com/BjTPOVgURv
— NHL (@NHL) July 28, 2025
Barzal also stopped by Fore Play to discuss the development and said his second one was particularly satisfying for the caddie who’d suggested the wrong club earlier in the round and redeemed himself after telling him to switch from a 4-iron to a 5-iron before he stepped up to the tee for what ended up being his second ace.
Must be nice.