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Zach Holland accused of shadiness before Hole-In-One sham
Zach Holland has gone viral for a fake hole-in-one at a recent golf tournament in Missouri. After digging into his past, fans have devised a theory that he manipulated his handicap index to gain an unfair advantage on the field.
The conspiracy claims add more negative attention to the admitted cheater. The optics aren’t great!
Golf journalist Yip Strickler did some investigating after learning about Holland’s hole-in-one sham. What he found, in the very least, provides skepticism surrounding the golfer’s integrity.
Zach Holland faked a hole-in-one.
@rjisntfunny Is this not the craziest cheating story you’ve ever heard? This story was confirmed by Winghaven GC and the golfer himself who committed the act on The Morning After show on ESPN. #golf #cheater #sports #pga
Holland played in a member-member event at Winghaven Country Club in the St. Louis area over the weekend. That tournament had hole-in-one prize at No. 4.
Holland, after hearing of the pot, devised a scheme to fake an ace. Details of that hoax were provided by RJ Plunkett on TikTok.
Holland informed his foursome that he expected a phone call mid-round. That call would come from his grandmother, who he claimed was in the hospital with poor health.
That call came while wrapping up at the third green. The golfer gave an update to his teammates, saying he’d quickly tee off at No. 4 before starting the phone conversation as to not interrupt pace of play.
A few moments later, the foursome followed with their tee shots on the fourth hole. Upon getting to the pin, they found the golfer’s ball in the cup.
There were no witnesses. A few competitors were skeptical after the fact. Plunkett says surveillance footage was requested, and it showed Holland’s car parked near the green. It also allegedly showed the player creating a divot on the playing surface to make the sham more believable.
Holland admitted to the wrongdoing in a radio interview the following day. While he insists that he informed the GM of his mistake prior to any surveillance footage being requested, his cheating was confirmed.
He has since resigned from Winghaven Country Club.
Yip Strickler alleges sandbagging.
In his radio interview, Zach Holland kept referencing the fact that his team was giving up two shots to the field. He entered the tournament as a +2 handicap.
Strickler immediately began to question if he’d manipulated his index prior to the event to gain an unfair advantage. He believes he’s found evidence.
The journalist dug into past GHIN history. A number of backdated scores were posted for the month of June.
“Typically, a handicap manipulator will backdate scores and put them just after a really good round… I became suspicious and wondered if there was an exceptional score that he was trying to bump off. What do you know? His very first round in the month of June was a 65 from the gold tees at Winghaven Country Club… He shot a 65 as a +0.7-handicap index at that time.”
-Yip Strickler
Strickler asserts that Zach Holland intentionally backdated scores to gain an unfair advantage for the member-member. Holland, meanwhile, insists he’s not a cheater.
“I’m not a cheater on the golf course. I made a bad decision, and I have to suffer the consequences.”
-Zach Holland
Strickler isn’t buying the story. He believes the golfer is shady. What are your thoughts on the topic? Let us know in the comments section below.