Here is Yokozuna Tochnishiki's 1957 Tsuki 8-9-10 menko that is also extremely rare...like hitting a hole-in-one. Fewer than 10 of these menko are known to exist...
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Japanese Sumo Wrestling Cards and Menko
Monday, January 11, 2021
It Turns Out...Golf Holes-In-One and Japanese Sumo Wrestling
It turns out that getting a hole in one in golf is actually quite hard and if you are a sumo wrestler it is even harder. Over 50 years ago the former Yokozuna Tochinishiki got one and has since been the first, and only, active or retired sumo wrestler to do so. How hard is it to get a hole in one? Well, according to the U.S. National Hole-In-One Registry it is about 1:12000 for an average player....so given that a course has about 3-4 Par 3s, you would need to play about 3500 rounds of golf before you sink one. American baseball has seen numerous holes-in-one by active and former players: Mike Maddux, Luke Hudson, and Brian Matusz to name a few. Football's legendary Jan Stenerud and Peyton Manning have both hit one. Even the NBA's future HOFer Steph Curry has made one.
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Awesome card! Nice "hole in one" there. This makes me wonder if any sumo wrestlers have ever hit one.
ReplyDeleteI think Yokozuna Tochinishiki has been the only one!
DeleteWow. That card is cool. Less than 10 exist? That's less than the Honus Wagner, right? As for hitting a hole-in-one... I've never hit one. But I've come close. I took my friend out a few weeks later (it was either her second or third time ever playing) and she hit one. My father has hit two as well.
ReplyDeleteA lot of the sumo menko can be quite rare and hard to find. I saw your picture of how close you came to hitting a hole-in-one. Awesome! Dang, your Dad must play a lot of golf!
DeleteWhen my parents retired and moved to Vegas he played five days a week for several years. Now that most of his golf buddies have passed away and his legs aren't what they used to be... he doesn't play anymore. Although... back in February my brother and I got him to hit some balls at the driving range.
DeleteTake him to Top Golf! Imagine he’d enjoy that.
DeleteGood idea. I think the next time the Fuji Clan gathers in Vegas... we'll check it out as a family.
DeleteWow, that's quite a find there! And I like the idea of a sumo swinging a golf club.
ReplyDeleteSwinging a golf club while active can't be easy with all those excess pounds!
DeleteNice card. I saw five hole-in-ones in nine years of caddying; never got one myself. Yet?
ReplyDeleteOh cool, I bet the stories you had though while caddying! It sounds like you might be due for one soon.
DeleteGolf isn't my thing, so I had no idea that such stats were even kept track of!
ReplyDeleteI don’t play too much, but do see some courses have lists of players that have made holes in one on the walls.
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