Most people would associate insurance of any kind with cover from life’s least happy circumstances, such as death, illness or theft.

For golf clubs and sport facilities, it usually means to protect club assets from unforeseen events and damages, or on course third party liability protection.

Most commonly, we buy insurance to protect us from misfortune and the times when lady luck lets us down.

But there is an other type of insurance worth considering, where golf clubs and other sports organisations and companies buy protection from the consequences of unusually good luck: Hole-In-One insurance.

HIO

HIO insurance is a type of price indemnification, working just like any other kind of insurance policy, except that instead of insuring your property against damage or loss, you are paying a premium to eliminate the risk of having to pay for a prize if someone pulls of the seemingly impossible feat of making a hole in one during your golf event.

HIO insurance allow golf-tournament sponsors that run contests to offer punters big-ticket prizes if they’re lucky enough to score a hole in one on a single try.

The prize indemnity permits for contest sponsors to leverage a relatively small expenditure into a major prize, creating a buzz and generating more tournament participants, and is a nice way to pad the numbers at the clubhouse bar.

Effectively, HIO assurance transfers the risk of paying out pricy award from the club or event organizer, over to the insurance company. For the insured entity, the cost of this type of product is far less than the unlikely, but large expense of paying a grand-prize winner.

COST

The cost of hole-in-one cover varies widely and is commonly based on the number of contestants, the odds of pulling off the seemingly impossible, the prize value, and the length of the golf shot (target hole) you want to insure.

For instance, a $200 premium for a 100-player tournament might cover a $10,000 prize, while a $50,000 prize for the same number of players might come with a $1,000 premium.

In addition, the premiums depend on whether the participants are amateurs or professionals.

Naturally, there’s only a slim chance an amateur will get an ace, let alone on the one hole on your tournament offering a prize.

But as an event organizer or club, such odds work in your favor when considering HIO insurance, as premiums can start at as little as $500with Golf Business Australia.

THE ODDS

The truth is most tournament sponsors offer high value prizes knowing, or at least hoping, that it just serves as an enticement and no one will actually sink the ball in the cup in one shot.

After all, the odds for an average golfer of hitting an ace are about 1 in 12,500, and even golf professionals have approximately a 1 in 2,500 chance.

In 2014, there were 34 aces in 45 total events on the PGA Tour. Mind you, these are the best players in the world and the shots were spread out over par 3's around the world.

However, even though the odds for and ace are low, not having hole-in-one insurance is playing with fire.

No one is claiming amateur players will start randomly dropping in 240-yarders off the tee, but owning hole-in-one insurance is just too convenient to not play it safe.

UNIQUE PRIZES

Even though for most golfers the glory that comes with making a hole-in-one is more than enough incentive, some tournaments have gone the extra mile when it comes to HIO prizes.

When Andy Sullivan aced his shot on the 15th hole at the Kennemer Golf & Country Club during the 2014 KLM Open, he won him self a trip to space. The expedition was reportedly worth around £60,000.

And the organisers of the inaugural CJ Cup at Nine Bridges event in South Korea offered the first player who made a hole-in-one at the par 3, 218-yard 13th hole a private Korean food party hosted by the global food brand Bibigo that represents the best of Korean cuisine.

Included in the unusual prize were the food brand’s renowned chefs escorted to cook at the destination of the player’s choosing. The one-time Korean food party was valued at 50,000 USD.

For prizes of that caliber, you can rest assured the organisers had a sufficient HIO insurance in place.

NO RISK, ALL REWARD

When you consider all the factors, purchasing HIO insurance seems like an easy decision and a must for charity golf tournaments.

When you have HIO insurance, you can gladly give out that huge prize and actually root for players to win it.

HIO will assist you in making your event the talk of the town with great prizes and lucky winners, and differentiation from the competition in your area all the while you have peace of mind knowing you don’t have to fork out a fortune for someone else’s good luck.

Being able to advertise a grand prize for the winner at your golf tournament will create a buzz around your event and is a sure way to up the participations numbers, resulting in more revenue for the organiser. Of course you can host such an event without insurance involved, but you'd then be liable for the whole price fee instead of just the low cost premium.

HIO WITH GBA

Let Golf Business Australia customise a plan that works to generate a buzz at your next golf event while giving you peace of mind knowing you only have to pay the premium.

Whether you are looking for HIO insurance for your event, golf insurance for your golf equipment, insurance cover for your buggy or that all-important on course third party liability protection, GBA has got you covered!

Feel free to call The Golf Insurance Guy Daniel Bateup any time on 1300 852 025 or fill out the form on our website and we’ll be in touch to start your journey soon.