Richard Squires was stunned to discover he had claimed golf’s rarest feat at Cotswolds Club, Chipping Norton.

The men’s captain knew his second shot at the 504-yard par five 11th hole was good, but had no idea he had just hit an albatross.

The 57-year-old, who plays off nine, said: knew I had hit a good drive and one of my playing partners told me the yardage for the second shot.“I hit it well, but we spent time looking for the ball on the fringes of the green.

“Someone said ‘check the hole’ and it was amazing to see it in there.”

Squires, from Ascott-under-Wychwood, was playing the Past and Present Captains competition.

He had eagled the hole before, but he quickly discovered an albatross – three under par at one hole – was different, with only one other at the club in living memory, from former professional Neal Rowlands.

Squires, whose chosen charity as captain is the Chipping Norton War Memorial Hospital, said: It was only afterwards when I started talking to the professional (Danny Phillips) that I realised quite how rare they were.“You hear of lots of holes in one in a year, but I was surprised at how few albatrosses there are.

“It ruined my round, though. It was the second hole we played, so all my playing partners kept reminding me all the way round.”