Countries · JAPAN

In Japan, golfers insure against a hole in one.

By custom in Japan, a hole in one is joy to be shared, and the golfer who makes it pays: a party, gifts for playing partners and friends, a tip for the caddie, sometimes a tree planted at the course. So insurers sell golf policies with hole-in-one cover, and to claim, the golfer needs witnesses.

The one to remember

In Japan, a hole in one comes with a bill.

Facts and sources

  • Japanese insurers describe the costs they cover as ones the golfer bears by custom after a hole in one or an albatross: commemorative gifts for playing partners and friends, a celebration party, a commemorative tree planted at the course and a tip for the caddie (Sompo Japan, Tokio Marine Nichido, Rakuten General Insurance, Kyoei Fire & Marine).
  • Golf Digest Japan reported in 2016 that the bill could range from about 300,000 yen to more than a million, depending on the scale, and that the custom of celebrating lavishly is fading. A comparison site's guide (updated October 2026) puts it at several hundred thousand to several million yen, depending on how many people take part.
  • The cover comes with golfers' insurance, alongside liability, injury and equipment cover. Kyoei Fire & Marine's cheapest plan for policies from October 2026 costs 3,970 yen a year and pays up to 200,000 yen for a hole in one or an albatross; Mitsui Sumitomo's plans with this cover cost 11,160 or 15,880 yen a year for 300,000 or 500,000 yen (policies from October 2025).
  • To claim, Sompo Japan asks for a certificate signed and stamped by a playing partner, the club's caddie and the course manager, plus receipts and the attested scorecard. A hole in one nobody witnessed is not paid.
  • Sompo Japan, Mitsui Sumitomo and Kyoei Fire & Marine do not, in principle, pay for a hole in one made in a round without a caddie. Mitsui Sumitomo makes exceptions when a partner and an outside witness watched the ball all the way from the shot into the cup, or when video proves it, and in 2025 it made clear that only seeing the ball already in the cup does not count as witnessing it.

Illustration: the course, the par 3, the golfers, the caddie, the clubhouse party, the gifts, the young commemorative trees and their wooden tags, the receipts, the policy and the certificate are drawn to tell the story, not recorded or surveyed. The documents are generic, not any insurer's own forms; the policy's sums follow one real plan (Kyoei Fire & Marine's plan G for policies from October 2026), and the receipts' amounts are illustrative.

Sources

  1. ゴルファープラン, THE カラダの保険 (Golfer plan) · Sompo Japan Insurance checked 11 October 2026
  2. THE カラダの保険, 2025年10月版 (pamphlet, printed 3 March 2026) · Sompo Japan Insurance checked 11 October 2026
  3. トータルアシストからだの保険, pamphlet for policies from 1 October 2026 · Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance checked 11 October 2026
  4. ゴルファー保険, 補償内容 (Golfer's insurance: what it covers) · Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance checked 11 October 2026
  5. 「ネットde保険＠ごるふ」改定のご案内 (revision notice, policies from 1 October 2025) · Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance checked 11 October 2026
  6. ゴルファー保険, pamphlet for policies from October 2026 (PB219200（26.10改）) · Kyoei Fire & Marine Insurance checked 11 October 2026
  7. 楽天ゴルフ保険（ゴルファー保険）の補償内容 (what Rakuten golf insurance covers) · Rakuten General Insurance checked 11 October 2026
  8. 楽天ゴルフ保険（ゴルファー保険）のご契約タイプ (plans and premiums) · Rakuten General Insurance checked 11 October 2026
  9. 【ゴルフ場の七不思議】ホールインワンの大盤振る舞いの謎 Vol.2 (9 August 2016, drawing on Monthly Golf Digest, February 1995) · Minna no Golf Digest (Golf Digest Japan) checked 11 October 2026
  10. ゴルフ保険 人気ランキング・比較 (updated 1 October 2026) · Kakaku.com Insurance checked 11 October 2026

The narration is AI-generated. Sources last checked 11 October 2026.

Script

In Japan, golfers buy insurance in case they make a hole in one. By custom, a hole in one there is joy to be shared, and the golfer who makes it pays. That can mean a party and gifts for playing partners and friends. There's a tip for the caddie, and sometimes a tree planted at the course. The bill can run to hundreds of thousands of yen, sometimes over a million. So insurers sell golf policies with hole in one cover. About 4,000 yen a year buys up to 200,000 yen of celebrating. To claim, the golfer needs witnesses, usually a playing partner and the caddie. Without a caddie, the insurer may not pay.