Insuring Hole-in-One Contests Par for Course

Four years ago, Eason Insurance of Fayetteville began insuring hole-in-one golf contests. For $350, a sponsor can hold a contest where a golfer could win $10,000 for making a hole-in-one on a 170-yard par-3 hole. As an insurance agency, Eason writes the contest policies through SCA Promotions of Dallas.

Since then, Eason has written about 10 of these contest policies a year. So far, the company hasn’t had to pay out to a winner.

“The reason they only charge $350 is the chances of someone hitting one is not real great,” said Bob Davis, president of Eason Insurance.

But that’s likely to change as long as Eason keeps writing the policies.

“It’s an excuse for the people who are playing to look forward to a particular hole,” said Davis, who served as a Fayetteville alderman from 1999 to 2004.

Eason writes the policy for the hole-in-one contest for the annual Dave Hollenbeck Golf Tournament, which has the $10,000 payout mentioned above. The event is sponsored by Fayetteville’s Northside Rotary Club and held at Stonebridge Meadows Golf Course. The event was held April 26 this year. A $500 award for a hole-in-one on any of the course’s par 3 holes was added to this year’s tournament, but there were no winners on those holes either.

Davis said Eason has also insured basketball and football contests. Other insurance companies have insured unusual things like promising to give everyone in the stands a prize if a World Series home run hits a particular sign over the fence.

Jaeger + Haines

Micheal Johnson, president of Jaeger + Haines Inc. of Fayetteville, said his agency writes five to 10 hole-in-one contest policies per year. As a broker, Jaeger + Haines writes policies for two companies that actually insure the contests.

The cost for premiums depends on the amount of the prize, the number of golfers participating and the distance to the hole, Johnson said.

“During this time of year, it seems every little organization wants to have a golf tournament and a hole-in-one contest,” he said. “They’ve got to have insurance.”

In addition to hole-in-one contests, Jaeger + Haines also insures festivals and other events. The company, which was founded in 1976, insured Fayetteville’s Springfest and Autumnfest before the events got as big as they are now.

“We wrote [those policies] for years,” Johnson said. “Special events are a very small part of what we do. We insure a lot of apartments, a lot of hotels. We insure a lot of commercial automobiles.”

Johnson said Jaeger + Haines had insured basketball-shot contests, but “I can’t really tell you the last time we were asked to do one of those.”

Jaeger + Haines was founded by Dean Jaeger, now deceased, and Larry Haines, who still serves as the company’s chairman

SCA Promotions

On its Web site, SCA explains how its contests work.

“We’ll figure the odds of a winner or the expected response and secure the coverage for your prize or over-redemption program,” the Web site states. “SCA retains some risk while the bulk of the overall risk is placed through agreements with various commercial insurers such as Lloyd’s and North American Specialty, a Swiss Re company.”

SCA was founded in 1986 by Robert D. Hamman, an 11-time world bridge champion.