A golfer aced his tee on a Sidmouth short golf course to score a dream hole-in-one.

Steve Bennedik, director of technology at Sky TV, visited Oak Mead Family Golf on August 1, and struck it lucky on the course’s hole four, which measures 78 yards.

The 59-year-old, from Surrey, was shocked to find his ball in the hole when he reached the end of the par three.

Shy to speak about his achievement, his friend Keith Malone spoke to the Herald and said he could not let the occasion go unmarked.

He has ordered a hole-in-one trophy for his pal with a golf ball memento from the club to mark the achievement.

The former ITV presenter said: “The irony is he didn’t see it go in. He thought he’d hit it too well and that it had gone through the back of the green.

“Consequently, he spent several minutes looking for his ball - until his son looked in the hole and told his dad he’d aced it for his very first hole-in-one.”

Tradition dictates after a hole-in-one, the lucky golfer buys everyone at the clubhouse a drink, but fortunately for the father-of-three, there was no one else on the course.

Keith said: “As one of Steve’s oldest friends, I couldn’t let his hole-in-one go by without sending him a trophy to mark such a brilliant moment that all golfers dream about, but only a very select few actually achieve.

“I am very jealous, as having been playing for nearly 50 years, I’ve never felt the ecstasy of picking my ball out of the hole for an ace. “Steve is now a member of a very exclusive club and has a trophy and the ball to prove it.”

Alastair Franks, from the golf course, said: “It’s a nine-hole course, not a full-length course.

“It’s still a reasonable length for anybody to shoot off and get a hole-in-one.

“It takes some doing.

“We get hole-in-ones once or twice a year, so it’s quite rare.”