A high-profile incident of golf cheating has rocked a private country club in Missouri, after an accomplished amateur player publicly owned up to orchestrating a fake hole-in-one at a club member tournament. Zach Holland, a former collegiate golfer holding a plus-two handicap, has stepped down from his membership at WingHaven Country Club after the scheme came to light, acknowledging his actions were deeply reckless and unethical.
The deception unfolded on the morning of the club’s annual member-member team competition, an event restricted to players who hold official membership at the facility, which offers a pooled prize for any participant that scores a hole-in-one. Holland had already completed play on the first three holes alongside his playing group when he concocted a false excuse: he claimed his grandmother was unwell and needed to take an urgent phone call, telling his group he would move ahead to the par-three fourth hole to play his tee shot early to avoid slowing down the group’s pace.
By the time the rest of Holland’s group arrived at the fourth green, he told them he had already played his shot but could not recall where the ball had landed. When the group searched the green, they discovered Holland’s golf ball sitting in the cup, prompting an immediate celebration of what the group believed was an unexpected hole-in-one.
Suspicion quickly grew among other club members in the clubhouse, however, as no witnesses had actually seen Holland hit the tee shot. When club officials confronted Holland, they were able to back up their suspicions with security camera footage showing Holland driving a vehicle near the fourth hole before his official tee time that day. Though no footage captured Holland actually placing the ball in the cup, the evidence was enough to prompt a full confession. Holland has since confirmed he placed the ball in the cup before his round even began, in a premeditated act of deception.
In an interview with St. Louis-based radio station 101 ESPN, Holland expressed deep remorse for his actions, saying, “You do something as dumb as I did, there are consequences for that.” When pressed about his motivation for the scheme, he said there was no clear justification for his choice. “I don’t really know. I’ve talked to people and there really is no motivation, just complete stupidity. We were giving two shots back to the field – and that’s not an excuse, there is no excuse for what I did. 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.”
Holland emphasized that the incident was an isolated mistake, not a pattern of bad behavior. “I’m not a cheater on the golf course. I made a bad decision and I have to suffer the consequences,” he said. The former player acknowledged he accepts public criticism of his actions, noting “I can take the banter and the chatter because I deserve that from a golf perspective.” What weighs on him most, he added, is the damage the incident has caused to his family and personal relationships. “But what I am most worried about is my family, breaking trust with a marriage I have had for five years next month. 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].”
Nathan Charnes, acting president of the PGA of America and general manager of WingHaven Country Club, told Golf.com in a statement that the club moved quickly to resolve the issue once the deception was uncovered. The club later released a formal statement confirming the matter has been fully addressed and is now considered closed. “We promptly addressed the matter,” Charnes said, adding that the club “care deeply about the integrity of the game and the experience we provide for our members and guests.”
Holland, who is working to move past the incident and protect his family from further public scrutiny, resigned his membership at the club following his confession, bringing the internal investigation to a close.