Ángel Hidalgo would have been about 12 years old when he achieved his first hole-in-one. Those things are unforgettable. It was at Cerrado del Águila, the headquarters where the Real Federación Andaluza de Golf held its training camps. It wasn’t the most academic. “I hit a thin shot, it bounced off the bunker slope, jumped, landed softly on the green, started rolling, and went into the hole,” recalls the Málaga native in conversation with Ten Golf. Today’s one in the third round of the British Masters was very different. It went straight in. A slam dunk.
“It was 159 metres. We were between clubs. Win (Gonzalo Vicente, his caddie) and I discussed it. We could hit a soft 7-iron or a more aggressive 8-iron. We saw that Simon (Forsstrom, his playing partner) hit the 8-iron and landed it pin-high to the left. That helped us choose the 8. The planned shot was three metres left of the flag… However, it went straight into the hole. It hit the pin and made a tremendous noise. It took me a second to realise what had happened, but then it was amazing. Great celebration and a great moment,” he explains to this outlet.
It was Hidalgo’s first hole-in-one in competition, but the thirteenth of his career. It’s been a while since that thin shot at Cerrado del Águila. “I might not remember all the holes-in-one, but the number is never forgotten. It’s something very special,” he notes. In fact, the last one he made, the twelfth in the collection, was very recently, a few weeks ago. He missed the cut in Scotland and went to play a nearby course with Win, Raúl González (former Real Madrid player) and Hugo González, Raúl’s son and Chacarra’s caddie until this week at the British Masters, as they have just announced their separation. That hole-in-one was also special. Not because it came from a thin shot, not at all, but because he achieved it on a par 4 hitting the driver from the tee. In other words, besides being a hole-in-one, it was an albatross. Sensational.
Besides the hole-in-one, Ángel experienced more things this Saturday at The Belfry. He holed out from the bunker spectacularly on the 14th hole. There was hardly any room, but he nailed the shot, soft, to the left, letting it roll into the hole. It was the second of his four consecutive birdies. A sensational streak that was broken with quite bad luck on the 17th hole, a par 5. One of the main birdie opportunities on this Brabazon course. Hidalgo hit the second shot from the fairway and missed left with the bad luck that the first bounce was very hard, the second on a path, and it ended up out of bounds in a place he didn’t even know existed. He hit the fourth again from the fairway and made a bogey. Still, a good round of 68 strokes to place 21st, two strokes off the top 10.
Joel Moscatel (-5) and Ángel Ayora (-5) are also well placed. Moscatel didn’t make an albatross on the 17th like yesterday, they don’t happen every day, most professionals never achieve one in their entire lives, but he did make an eagle. A round of 67 strokes. Magnificent. And a partial of six under on the 17th in three days. Let’s see what he does tomorrow on this hole because it’s not out of the question that they might end up putting a plaque there. Joking aside, the Barcelona golfer has signed his best round since the third of the Volvo China Open back in April. It should be a great boost.
Meanwhile, Ayora shot 69 strokes, with a great finish of three birdies in four holes. A reward for patience, as in the first part of his round, he missed some clear birdie opportunities and didn’t lose patience. Additionally, Rafa Cabrera Bello (-3) played under par, while Pablo Ereño (-2), Manu Elvira (-2), and Alejandro del Rey (-1) lost their duel with the course with rounds of 73 strokes each.
