Golfer Sues Charity Organizers After Being Denied Mercedes-Benz Prize For Hole-In-One Challenge

Many charity golf tournaments will often hold a promotion to win a free car if a competitor can sink a hole-in-one on a nearly impossible course. Well, one golfer managed to succeed in that nearly impossible feat during a charity tournament in Florida, and now the organizers are refusing to hold up their end of the deal.

What Happened?

While competing at a charity golf tournament at the Isleworth Golf & Country Club in Windermere, Florida, Linda Chen was presented with the challenge of getting a hole-in-one on the par 3 11th hole of the course. The first person to complete the hole in a single shot would then be the winner of a Mercedes-Benz E-Class with an estimated worth of $90,000. To everyone’s amazement, Chen was able to complete the hold-in-one challenge. So by her understanding, she did everything required to win the Mercedez-Benz.

Mercedes-Benz Denied

However, Timothy Galvin, the owner of the Tournament Golf Event, is denying Chen her prize because she had previously competed as a professional golfer from 1994 to 1996, a detail she did not inform organizers of before entering. Galvin adds that Chen had signed an affidavit claiming that she had never been a professional golfer before.

“There were other professional golfers in the event who informed the tournament of their status,” said Galvin. “That’s all Ms. Chen had to do ahead of time and this could have prevented how things are going.”

After being denied her prize, Chen has filed a lawsuit against the ACE Hole In One tournament organizers and Mercedes-Benz of South Orlando (who advertised the car). In her complaint, Chen argues that she has been listed only as an amateur under the U.S. Golf Association for over 15 years, and that she is seeking either the Mercedes-Benz E-Class that was presumably promised to her after making the hole-in-one, or the value of the car of $90,000.

This isn’t the first time a golf tournament has denied a competitor its promise of a free car after making an impossible shot. One man sued tournament organizers and a Ford dealership for being denied a new Ford F-150 after completing a hole-in-one challenge at the Morrilton Country Club in Morrilton, Arkansas.

Perhaps whoever sets up these hole-in-one challenges should consider the fact that if someone makes the shot, there are no mulligans on the organizers’ end.