By Coleman Bentley
Think about all the hole-in-one-prizes in golf. BMW convertibles, free drinks at the 19th hole, a fancy watch … the satisfaction that comes with achieving a personal milestone after years of hard work and trauma. Now throw all those right out the window. The Omega European Masters is changing the game this year, with totally new ace award that might well go down as the strangest in golf history: Life insurance.

Competitors at this week’s Omega European Masters don’t stand to win a luxury car or Rolex if they happen to dunk one on the 178-yard, par-3 13th hole. Instead, they win 30,000 Swiss francs worth of life insurance courtesy of Vaudoise Insurances. You may think we’re joking, but how could we possibly make this up? Just ask Canadian Aaron Cockerill, who walked away with the shiny new insurance policy on Thursday.

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Don’t ask us who thought this was a good idea. It’s the golf equivalent of handing out toothbrushes on Halloween. Not to mention the fact that $30,000 barely covers a broken leg these days, let alone, you know, death. But we don’t want to seem ungrateful. A hole-in-one is the real reward, after all.

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