The Greatest Round Ever Played?

Golf pro Rhein Gibson shot a sixteen-under 55 Saturday, May 12, 2012 at River Oaks Golf Club in Edmond, Oklahoma. Twelve birdies and two eagles.

Holy smokes.

Annika Sorenstam has for years promoted a “Vision 54” in which she contends that a “perfect round” of 54 is possible (You can read a review of one of her Vision 54 books here). This is as close to that perfection as I’ve ever heard of—unless you want to count the scramble score of the winning team at our annual teachers’ golf outing a couple of years ago. They were 18 under.

The closest anyone has gotten to this score was the 55 shot by Homero Blancas. Blancas, a member of the University of Houston golf team, shot a 55 in a tournament on August 19, 1962. That round has an asterisk beside it, however, because it was a par 70 course measuring just over 5,000 yards.

Gibson’s round was at a 6698-yard par-71 course.

Gibson, 26, is an Australian professional who calls the River Oaks Club home after spending his college years at Oklahoma Christian. He plays on the Golfweek National Pro Tour while waiting for his shot at the PGA Tour.

Scores of 56, 57 and 58 have been posted by various players over the years, mostly in non competitive situations.

The lowest shot in competition were 58s shot by Shigeki Maruyama, Jason Bohn and Ryo Ishikawa.

Maruyama shot a 58 in a 2000 US Open Section Qualifier. Bohn’s 58 came in the final round of the 2001 Canadian Tour Bayer Championship. Ishikawa met that mark in the 2010 Crowns Tournament on the Japan Tour.

The 55 shot by Gibson was—as far as I can tell—not in a competition. But it is incredibly impressive nonetheless. Still, the skeptic in me says that this has to be a hoax …

The scorecard shown above was posted on the Reddit Golf Forum.