Zach Holland admits faking hole-in-one at WingHaven Country Club

Zach Holland admitted on 13 August 2026 that he faked a hole-in-one during a member-member tournament at WingHaven Country Club in Missouri, saying he had "completely made a fool" of himself.

Holland, an amateur with a plus-two handicap, placed the ball in the cup at the par-three fourth hole earlier in the morning before his round and was due to play in a two-person team competition at WingHaven Country Club. He had completed the first three holes when he told his group he needed to take a phone call about his grandmother being ill and said he would run ahead to the next tee and hit his shot first to keep up with the pace of play.

When the rest of the group reached the fourth, Holland said he had taken his shot but claimed not to know where the ball had ended up; the players found the ball in the cup and celebrated what they believed was a hole-in-one. The member-member tournament — where both players must be official members of the same golf club or organisation — carried a hole-in-one prize pot.

The achievement prompted scepticism in the clubhouse because there were no witnesses who had seen Holland take the shot, and staff later confronted him after reviewing security footage that showed him driving a car near the fourth hole before his tee time. Holland admitted what he had done when confronted, although there was no footage of him actually placing the ball in the cup.

Holland has resigned his WingHaven membership and spoke to radio station 101 ESPN in St Louis, saying: "You do something as dumb as I did, there are consequences for that." When asked about his motivation he replied: "I don't really know. I've talked to people and there really is no motivation, just complete stupidity." He added: "We were giving two shots back to the field - and that's not an excuse, there is no excuse for what happened. But to answer your question, we were giving two shots back to the field, and I went about it just completely and utterly the wrong way."

Describing his actions, Holland, who is a former college golfer, said: "I made a terrible mistake, the lack of moral character. I can take the banter and the chatter because I deserve that from a golf perspective." He expressed concern for his family: "But what I am most worried about is my family, breaking trust with a marriage I have had for five years next month." He added: "We have two kids that are under three and you know, it's not fair to them for me to put them in that situation where they walk in a room, there is a stigma there that your dad [is a cheater]."

Asked whether he had done anything like this before, Holland said: "No, not to this extent," and later stated: "I'm not a cheater on the golf course. I made a bad decision and I have to suffer the consequences" before adding that he was trying to move forward and protect his family.

WingHaven Country Club said in a statement the incident involving Zach Holland has been resolved and they now consider the matter closed; Nathan Charnes, the acting PGA of America president and general manager at WingHaven, told Golf.com the club had "promptly addressed the matter", adding they "care deeply about the integrity of the game and the experience we provide for our members and guests".