Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why Golfers Buy Hole In One Insurance

priceonomics.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 53 posts

Re: Why Golfers Buy Hole In One Insurance

#41

Post by mseebach »

jonknee wrote: post #34
mkonstan wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

hole in one insurance is usually just charged by the club in addition to membership fee, not by an actual insurance company. its also inaccurate to assume that anyone who plays golf can afford $500+ in alcohol.

> its also inaccurate to assume that anyone who plays golf can afford $500+ in alcohol. One would hope then that upon getting a hole in one they would not spend $500 that they cannot afford. It's not a requirement to buy anyone else a drink.

That part of why the insurance is unusual - It's basically insurance against a specific kind of social embarrassment.

Re: Why Golfers Buy Hole In One Insurance

#42

Post by mseebach »

Someone wrote: post #39
herge wrote: post #8

I worked in reinsurance, and there was the (apocryphal) story one year of how the government of South Africa had promised a million dollars to every player if their team won the world cup. On the flip side, the government looked for a reinsurer to insure them for that risk. My company said no because so basically it distilled down to sports betting and we did not have any experience in that market.

It is (or was?) also fairly normal for British snooker and darts players to place an 'insurance bet', by betting on themselves losing a game ( http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/144899/Steve-Dav... ) Say that the difference between winning and losing a final is £50k, and the bookmakers pay out even on a bet that you lose. If you bet £20k on you losing, you change a "nothing if I lose, £50k if I win" game int…

You're usually not allowed to bat on yourself for fairly obvious reasons.

On a related note, a friend who's a sports better always placed the biggest bets against his own teams. Partly because he trusts his judgement better when not clouded by the hope that his team will win, partly because if he looses the bet, hey, his favorite team just won the game against the odds!

Re: Why Golfers Buy Hole In One Insurance

#43

Post by etrain »

djloche wrote: post #3

The article doesn't cover it - but the reason why people are expected to buy everyone drinks is because if you're lucky and skilled enough to get a hole in one, you will likely win the round and all the money wagered. If it is a local club or casual tournament, this can be a few hundred or thousand dollars. Even if it is just four people playing, there will usually be money wagered between themselves. If it's a large…

I have golfed since I was a kid (grew up in the mid-Atlantic), and have been a serious golfer for the last 7 years or so - having lived both in Boston and the bay area during that time.

I very rarely bet any money on my round, nor do the people I play with. True, there are people betting on their rounds, but I'd estimate it's 1 out of every 10 groups that goes out for a round that does that.

The article blows it out of proportion a little bit, too. At the courses I play (in the bay area), there are usually maybe 20 people in the clubhouse, and a round of drinks would probably come to $100. The "insurance" crowd is a very small subset of the golfing population.

True - it is an expensive sport and maybe traditionally a game for the wealthy, but my weekly golf habit doesn't cost much more than a gym membership. People from all walks of life play and enjoy the game, and it definitely doesn't have to be expensive unless you want it to be.

Re: Why Golfers Buy Hole In One Insurance

#44

Post by moron4hire »

I mean, it's not pick-up basketball, but golf doesn't have to be an expensive sport. My first set of clubs were used, maybe $50. I'm not so sure, because it was 20 years ago and my father bought them for me. We were not rich by any means. We would play once a week together.

Re: Why Golfers Buy Hole In One Insurance

#46

Post by brazzy »

sokoloff wrote: post #14

Am I to understand that someone who is golfing is unable to absorb the costs of several hundred dollars of drinks in? And that this is common enough that there's an insurance product to hedge that miniscule risk? It seems like a much shorter article could have been written: Because they can't do math.

I suspect that it more a social than a financial issue. Maybe getting that insurance acts as some sort of status signal, showing commitment towards honoring the tradition even if the occasion will most likely never arise.

Re: Why Golfers Buy Hole In One Insurance

#48

Post by [deleted] »

slyall wrote: post #27

A lot of the comments here seem to assume that only the rich play golf. I'm from a golfing family (don't play myself) and that is definitely not always the case, at least in New Zealand. Sure you'd get doctors and lawyers playing but the bulk of the club would be middle class people making well under the equivalent $100k. Certainly not people who can afford to drop say $1000 casually. For instance my local club ( htt…

[deleted]

Re: Why Golfers Buy Hole In One Insurance

#49

Post by baha_man »

mseebach wrote: post #42
Someone wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is (or was?) also fairly normal for British snooker and darts players to place an 'insurance bet', by betting on themselves losing a game ( http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/144899/Steve-Dav... ) Say that the difference between winning and losing a final is £50k, and the bookmakers pay out even on a bet that you lose. If you bet £20k on you losing, you change a "nothing if I lose, £50k if I win" game int…

You're usually not allowed to bat on yourself for fairly obvious reasons. On a related note, a friend who's a sports better always placed the biggest bets against his own teams. Partly because he trusts his judgement better when not clouded by the hope that his team will win, partly because if he looses the bet, hey, his favorite team just won the game against the odds!

Surely betting on yourself to win is fine?

Re: Why Golfers Buy Hole In One Insurance

#50

Post by baha_man »

segacontroller wrote: post #31

I have been around professional golf my whole life and have seen many hole in ones. No one ever purchased me a drink. I have made a few hole in ones, and no one has ever even asked me to buy them one. I have heard of this "tradition", but after travelling week to week with the PGA tour for years and playing golf with a multitude of new people every week, and have never even heard of someone buying more than three dri…

Well, perhaps a hole in one is a bigger deal for amateurs, so they are more likely to honour the tradition. The article give the odds of getting a hole in one as 7,500 to 1 for a pro and 12,500 for an amateur, which doesn't seem like a huge difference, but presumably pros will play so much more they'll get many more holes in one.
Post reply on HN