Hole in One (or Two)

Hole in One (or Two) is a game played for a car. The contestant has to play golf to win a car and a potential cash bonus by placing 6 grocery products from least to most expensive.

Gameplay[]

The game revolves around putting on a miniature golf-style hole which consists of a long straightaway ending in a circular area contained by a short rail. The hole is in the center of this area and is larger than a standard golf hole. The straightaway has six evenly spaced lines, the last of which is where the straightaway meets the circular area. The lines represent the possible distances from which the contestant will have to putt for the car.
Six grocery items are used to determine the line from which line the contestant will putt. The contestant is asked to order the items from least to most expensive, with flags representing the items being placed in the given order at each line on the straightaway, starting with the one farthest from the hole. The prices are then revealed in the order the flags were placed. As long as each item is higher-priced than the previous item, the contestant moves up to that line. Otherwise, the contestant does not advance and the remaining flags are removed without their prices revealed. If the contestant orders the grocery items perfectly, he/she receives a cash bonus of $500.
The contestant then has two attempts to sink a putt from the line he/she earned to win the car; before this the host asks for silence from the in-studio audience so the contestant can putt correctly, as is the case for miniature golf tournaments. As in miniature golf, a putt counts if it is sunk after bouncing off the rail.

History[]

Originally, this game was called "Hole in One" and the contestant was given only one attempt to make the putt. Because of the difficulty level associated with winning the game, expensive cars were usually offered - usually mainstream sports cars, Jeeps, vans, or upscale sedans - but a step below "Golden Road" cars.
Originally, a drumroll sounded when the contestant was about to make the putt but was removed on December 21, 1977 (#2613D).
Originally, the $500 sign was a white oval with "$500" written in red. On December 21, 1977 (#2613D), it became a yellow flower with "$500" in white, which was changed to blue and purple on November 4, 1980 (#3852D). On September 24, 1981 (#4194D), it was again replaced with a flag; originally, it was a dark gold with "$500" written in white, which was changed rather quickly to a lighter shade of gold with silver edges with "$500" in black, before becoming a solid gold on December 10, 1986 (#6303D).
During 1986 primetime specials, the current format of two putts was introduced. It was instituted permanently on the daytime show on October 10, 1986 (#6215D). During the 1986 specials only, the $500 bonus was doubled to $1,000 (this rule change was instituted into the $1,000,000 Spectacular specials). The game's name was changed to "Hole in One or Two" on February 6, 1987 (#6365D), intentionally to not confuse viewers when Barker says the contestant has two chances, which initially placed a stake saying "or Two" next to the Hole in One sign.
However, with the sign introduced on October 23, 1987 (#6615D), aired out of order on October 16, and still used today, a golf ball reads "One" on one side, and “Or Two” on the other, with a button to press to make the ball flip sides. This was done to have the contestant, audience, and home viewers bring out the best excitement possible; the game is introduced as “Hole in One”, so only one chance is expected. If the contestant misses, it will seem like the game is over (unless you know the game well) but that’s when the host flips the golf ball to reveal the full name and the contestant gets another chance! Therefore, since October 16, 1987, the name “Hole in One or Two” is only used on the show if the contestant misses their first putt.
Sometimes in the early 1990s, instead of a buzzer, a foghorn would sound if the second putt was missed. This made the game similar to Take Two and Pick-A-Pair.
One of the game's best-known features is the host Bob Barker's "inspiration putt," in which he attempted a putt from the furthest line in an attempt to inspire the contestant. At various times, the putt has also been done by the announcer, models, stars of other shows taped at CBS Television City or members of the production staff. One of the most famous "inspirational putts" was by model Janice Pennington, from December 2, 1991. The putt looked as if it was going to miss, but then it suddenly curved into the hole, completely baffling Bob, and everybody else. It was later determined that a hole in the ball caused it to turn. Drew Carey has continued the tradition of the inspiration putt, though he admittedly is not a golfer, and more often than not misses. If Carey misses, he sometimes "taps" the golf ball in the hole with his foot, but that putt does not count. Some versions of Hole-in-One-or-Two have their hosts doing inspiration putts, too, in particular, Marco Antonio Regil, Bruce Forsyth, Ian Turpie, and Larry Emdur. On Joe Pasquale's UK version, "Raynard", his assistant, did the putt, which was more like an "inspiration drive," where he whacked the ball offstage, accompanied by a sound effect of breaking glass.
On March 7, 1985 (#5634D), PGA professional golfer (and later CBS golf announcer) Bobby Clampett was in the audience and was invited by Bob to take the "inspiration putt". Clampett missed the putt.
In 1994's syndicated The New Price is Right, Hole in One used small prizes instead of groceries during the pricing game segment. The prices were also revealed immediately after the contestant chose each item, rather than revealing them all at the end. And there was no $500 flag although that bonus cash prize was still offered. Also, like in the 70s and early 80s, when they reveal the actual prices in order, the camera shots shows only the models' chest area instead of both the face and chest in the daytime version (possibly to attract male viewers to watch at the time) and unlike Barker nor Carey, Davidson never does his "inspirational putt" to inspire the contestant but with one of his "running gags", if the contestant misses his or her putt, Davidson would mindlessly wander around the set by feeling "sorry" for the contestant until he'd "accidentally" press the button that flips the sign that says "ONE" to the other side that says "OR TWO".
Barker often mentioned that this was his favorite game if he made his inspiration putt and his least favorite game if he didn't. But the models want to golf too.
On one episode during the one-putt rule, from April 17, 1981 (#4085D), a contestant named Dolores put all six grocery items in the correct order, won the $500 and putts from the sixth line, but did not hit the ball hard enough and lost the car. This also happened with contestant Lorece on April 8, 1983 (#4874D). This happened twice in the two-putt era, once in a Doug Davidson episode and the other in a Barker episode, but in both cases, the contestants won with their second putts. In one episode in the Mexican version of the show, a contestant missed both of her putts from the closest line and Marco blew the ball into the hole. The closest line the contestant missed both putts was on January 6, 1994 (#9024D), in which a contestant missed both putts from the second-closest line.
On May 1, 1997 (#0364K), Chantel Dubay did the inspiration putt.
In 1998, Game Show Network aired a commercial for a fictional VHS tape called Golf Bob's Way showing clips of Hole in One.

On March 1, 1999 (#1041K), contestant Amber Solomon asked how many chances she gets before she started the putting. Per host rules, Barker decided to ask back, and Amber, who was shown one half of the title, said just one. Barker almost spoiled it asking “Is that all you think you’ll get?” Amber then thought there might be more but Barker sent her on the putting area with a mysterious “We’ll see. Do as well as you can with the first one”, which is likely a spoiler. But Amber got the car on the first try and the question was not answered, although fans in the audience can be heard shouting “Two!”
On November 16, 2000, in honor of her birthday, former Price producer Kathy "Fingers" Greco did the inspiration putt.
On May 3, 2005 (#3262K), a USA Deal or No Deal former producer Josh Silberman put all six grocery items in the correct order, won $500 and got to putt from the sixth line, and won the car.
On November 17, 2008, Rich Fields did the inspiration putt.
On April 28, 2009 (#4732K), professional golfer Natalie Gulbis did the inspiration putt.
On April 21, 2010 (#5133K), Hole in One was played for a restored 1964 Bentley S3 Continental worth $34,990 and was won on the second try.
On October 21, 2013 (#6461K, aired out of order on October 7), the split-screen camera shot has been changed to a single-screen camera shot side-view of the putting green.
On November 22, 2013 (#6505K, aired out of order on November 19), during Dream Car Week, a BMW 640i Convertible worth $87,516 was offered and won, to include a cash bonus of $500 as well.
On May 10, 2016, the game was featured on Let's Make a Deal as part of a mash-up between both shows. (May 10, 2016 (7532K) of Price featured Go for a spin from LMAD.)
On October 26, 2016 (#7663K), during Big Money Week, the game was played for a top cash prize of $100,000 instead of a car. Contestant Cedric Broussard had two chances to sink the putt with a windmill in the way (or they could have it removed and instead play for $20,000). Cedric chose to play for the $100,000; sadly, he had to putt from the far line and lost. (Ironically, even though he usually comments that he is a poor golfer during this game, Drew Carey made a perfect putt on his inspirational putt from the backline.)
On December 30, 2016 (#7745K), as a part of Best of 2016, the game was played for a cash prize of $100,000 instead of a car. Once again, contestant Cassandra Boettcher had two chances to sink the putt with a windmill in the way or have it removed and instead play for $20,000. Cassandra chose to play for the $100,000; she putt from the third line and won.
On November 27, 2019 (#8903K), the Thanksgiving College Rivals episode, Eric Dunlap (Auburn) failed to win a 2019 Nissan Versa SV worth $17,995, and Kayla Edwards (Alabama) ends up with $1,000.
On September 30, 2021, on the 50th Anniversary special, actor (and former model) Chris O'Donnell did the inspiration putt.

Trivia[]

The most number of times this game was played in any season was 42 (season 6), while the least number of times this game was played in any season was 5 (seasons 41 and 49).
Hole in One (or Two) was one of four "new" pricing games are seen on the seventh taping session of Season 36, which was seen on November 27, 2007 (#4102K, aired out of order on November 5), December 14, 2007 (#4125K, aired out of order on November 2), January 9, 2008 (#4133K, aired out of order on January 7), and January 22, 2008 (#4152K, aired out of order on January 29).
When Hole in One was played first on September 14, 1988 (#6943D), Bob entered through the turntable to avoid revealing the game. This was the only time he entered through the turntable.
Hole in One has not been played first since January 6, 1989 (#7095D), and what entrance Bob made has been lost to time.
- Since Season 43, Hole in One (or Two) has never been the first or second pricing game to be played on the show because it needs time to start up and the game can be played no earlier than third on the show.
The odds of winning the $500 guessing randomly are 1 in 720, or around 0.139%.
In the 2008 edition, 2010 edition, and The Price is Right Decades game, instead of a prize, playing for money, $20,000, $30,000, and $40,000 for the 2008 and 2010 editions, $8,500 for The Price is Right Decades.
This is the only active game that requires a physical skill to win, the other games being the now-retired Super Ball!! and On the Nose. Other games, like Race Game, Bonkers, and Time is Money, have better odds of winning if the contestant performs better physically, but can still be won without the physical skill.
During the first two games of Season 52, George Gray didn't announce the price of the car before the game was played.

Appearances Outside of The Price is Right[]

On the syndicated daytime talk show The Rosie O'Donnell Show Hole in One (or Two) appeared in the same episode with another classic pricing game called Clock Game on December 23, 1998. It featured a male model instead of a female model.

On the syndicated daytime talk show Ellen (or The Ellen DeGeneres Show) Hole in One (or Two) appeared in a few episodes twice with mainly a studio audience member as a contestant playing for a prize of their liking, the first appearance was on a April 21, 2014 episode that featured current host Drew Carey along with Cheryl Burke from ABC's hit reality celebrity dance competition series Dancing with the Stars (which moved to streaming on Disney+ in 2022 now hosted by Tyra Banks and Alfonso Ribeiro. In 2023, After Banks left, she was replaced by co-host Ribeiro with former competitor Julianne Hough as his new co-hosts when the series moved back to its original home since 2023) (also Carey's dance partner at the time) and DeGeneres herself as models while the second appearance was on a December 7, 2018 episode that was hosted by DeGeneres herself along with James O'Halloran as the model.

It is confirmed to appear in The Jennifer Hudson Show on February 1, 2023. See Hole in One (or Two)/Gallery for details.

Foreign versions[]

On some international versions (like Canada's Price Is Right: À vous de jouer [Price Is Right: For You to Play], where there's also no cash whatsoever), the contestant has only one attempt instead of two to sink a putt from the line, and often awards other large prizes or no car at all. On the initial UK adaptation, if the ball stopped within a circle, the player would win the first correctly-placed items with a successful putt winning all five items and a bonus prize. However, Bruce's Price is Right in the UK and Der Preis ist Heiss (The Price is Hot) called Einlochen/Zweilochen (Pot/Double Hole) in Germany did allow for a second putt, and (in the UK) often gave winners a choice of two large prizes.
- Bruce's Price is Right also used four small prizes rather than six grocery items.
On the Vietnamese version known as Hãy Chọn Giá Đúng (Choose the Right Price), called Choi Golf (Play Golf) he contestant has a choice of having up to two "trial attempts" (sometimes more) with no prizes at stake before having the real shot, but they only have one real attempt to sink the ball into the hole. On Lại Văn Sâm's era and Lưu Minh Vũ's era, the prize was usually a motorbike (or a car in a special). Trần Ngọc's era also has the prize of a motorbike on certain episodes (but no cars). Since Hồng Phúc's era, the game was never played a motorbike or a car at all.

Gallery[]

To view the gallery, click here.

YouTube Videos[]

Janice's Outrageous Putt (December 2, 1991, #8211D)
Ella's Awesome 2nd Putt (March 19, 1992, #8354D)
Hole in One for a 1964 Bentley (April 21, 2010, #5133K)
Ralph's comeback in Hole in One (May 6, 2013, #6341K)
A Dream Car Win from Hole in One (November 22, 2013, #6505K, aired out of order on November 19)
Perfect Putt! (March 27, 2015, #7065K)
$100,000 Prize Putt! (December 30, 2016, #7745K)
Macy's Perfect Hole in One Playing (October 11, 2019, #8845K)

1970s Pricing Games

Active Pricing Games