A HOLE-IN-ONE is said to be the highlight of most golfers' careers but it usually is rewarded with nothing more than a round of drinks.

But Cononley golfer Ian Kaye chose the perfect moment for his hole-in-one - it earned him a holiday in Mauritius and 500 Euros to spend in a professional's shop.

The 20 handicapper was at La Cala in Spain with a party organised by Allister Black from Skipton Golf Club when they took up a challenge from Leukaemia Research on the first day of their trip.

They paid seven Euros to enter and anyone who hit the 16th green (a par three surrounded by water) received three golf balls - while a hole-in-one won a golfing trip to Mauritius plus 500 Euros to spend in the pro's shop.

And in Mauritius he will win one million dollars if he can repeat his hole-in-one feat.

Alas, he did not witness his Spanish hole-in-one. While playing partner Denis Brewster said: "Where's that gone?", the other two making up his fourball, Alan Robinson and Frank Wood, watched its progress.

"I hit it a bit gentle and when Alan said he thought it was not going to get over the lake I gave a little curse and looked away," explained Ian, who is known as "Hicky". "Then Alan said 'It's gone in', but I thought he meant in the water at first."

Mr Black said the Skipton party always took part in the Leukaemia Challenge and more often than not ended up in the lake.

"We heard that Hicky had done something special and thought he'd had a good score," said Mr Black. "It was a great way to get the trip going."

The challenge is run each day at the course and others in Spain. Ian was told he was the fourth this year to actually get it in the hole.

However, despite his hole-in-one, it was not good enough to rescue an otherwise disastrous round. The one nett zero garnered him five points in golf's stableford scoring system - almost a quarter of the 21 points total he had for the full 18 holes!

It is not his first hole-in-one, the other came on the 17th on his home Skipton course during a friendly game.