Canterbury Golf Club’s undisputed king of aces, Chris Gay, has achieved the ninth hole-in-one of his career.

The nine-handicapper holed his tee shot at the club’s 150-yard fifth hole. His 5-iron into a gentle breeze pitched on the fringe of the green, bounced a couple of times and ran up to the hole before disappearing.

“To be quite honest, I was just pleased to have hit a good shot,” said Chris, who is Canterbury’s club president.

“I thought it was going to be close and that I might have a birdie opportunity but I was happy not to have to putt.”

For Chris, a former Canterbury City Council chief executive, it was the first time he had aced the fifth hole and came almost a year to the day since his previous one, at Canterbury’s eighth hole.

“I had had one at the second, four at the eighth and one at the 11th, so this now leaves me with just the 17th to get at Canterbury.”

Chris’s feat was seen by regular playing partner Richard Young, who said he had mixed emotions:

“The hole-in-one meant that Chris had to buy the drinks but it helped him to beat me, albeit narrowly.”