WINTER PARK, Fla. - Let's just make a nice, easy swing and make good contact.

That was all I was thinking as I stood over the ball. Considering I was fresh off of a plane several hours earlier, the first tee jitters felt a little more real. It didn't help I was teeing off in the Winter Park 9 skins game, a Friday competition that's become a weekly tradition at one of Orlando's most fun courses.

No range.
No warm-up.
No problem.

Looking back, I still can't quite figure out how I made a 1 on hole 1. Yep, you read that right. I aced the first hole. Actually, I made an albatross. There's no better way to start a round. Ever.

Winter Park Director of Golf Anthony Buttvick says there have been fewer than five 1s on the first hole since the Winter Park Golf Course was renovated in 2016. "I wouldn't play the other 8 holes if I did it," he says laughing. "I'd walk away right there."

Reliving my career round at Winter Park 9

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary when I checked in to play October 27. I paid for my tee time and threw in my $40 for the skins game. Normally, it costs $20 for the skins game, but this round was double skins. I thought I would be making a nice donation to someone: I felt pretty stiff from my travels.

The first hole at Winter Park 9 is a short par 4 that normally plays 241 yards. The tees were up, playing a tad shorter at 233 yards. The green complex is what makes this hole a short par 4 vs. a long par 3. The undulation of the green is pretty wild and normally provides more than enough defense.

I grabbed my 2 hybrid, a brand new Taylormade TPX no. 5 golf ball, a brand new golf glove and teed it up. I happened to be rocking a new golf bag as well. I went through my pre-shot routine and setup. All I was hoping was to find the center of the club face. Boy, did I ever.

At first glance, I thought the ball was on a really good line and had a chance to settle within 5 to 10 feet from the pin, depending on the bounce. While I was watching, I heard a few compliments in the background from my playing partners - "oh, good swing there". The ball landed softly about 10 feet short of the hole and gently rolled in at the speed of a perfect putt.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I honestly was protecting myself from the ultimate letdown, just in case it didn't go in, because I've been guilty of getting too excited after a few close calls in the past. The cool thing about this skins game is that you play with a large group of people: I had 8 witnesses on the tee, including a buddy. A couple golfers pulled out their range finders just to be sure it went in. No one saw a ball on the green.

Needless to say, I won a skin. There were a total of three skins so we split the pot 3 ways and I won $120. That was the cherry on top of an already insane day for me. Perhaps what I'm most proud of is I didn't let my emotions affect me the rest of the way. I went on to shoot my personal best at WP9 by three shots. I shot 29 for nine holes, 6 under par thanks to the most perfect start.

No one knows exactly how rare making an albatross is, but the odds of 6 million to 1 have been thrown about in various articles online. This PGA.com story notes that Dean Knuth, who was the United States Golf Association's senior director of the handicap department from 1981 to 1997, believes the odds are closer to a million to one.

Buttvick says that most golfers miss the green on the first hole, let alone sink their first shot. "It's the way the course is designed," he says. "The greens are very undulating. It's hard to land on the green. The street is behind the hole and to the side. 99 percent of shots funnel off the surface."

Although your odds of duplicating this feat are long, there are actually dozens of other courses like Winter Park that offer a slim - yet realistic - chance to make a 1 on hole 1. If a course starts with a short par 4 or a par 3, then most of us at least have a shot at the improbable. Hundreds of regulation courses around the world start this way. The best of the bunch are listed below.

Are you feeling lucky?

First-hole par 3s (on regulation courses)

The par-3 first hole on the Blue Course at The Berkshire plays over that treacherous heathland rough. Jason Scott Deegan/GolfPass

Walton Heath Golf Club - Old Course - hole 1

The par-3 first on the Walton Heath Golf Club's Old Course is the only hole on the land closest to the clubhouse. The other 35 holes sit across the road. Jason Scott Deegan/GolfPass

Walton Heath Golf Club (Old Course) - Walton-on-the-Hill, England
235 yards

The Berkshire Golf Club (Blue Course) - Ascot, England
213 yards

Royal Lytham & St. Annes - Lytham St. Annes, England
206 yards

Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club - Ainsdale, England,
202 yards

Pacific Grove Golf Links - Pacific Grove, Calif.
146 yards

North Sound Golf Club - West Bay, Cayman Islands
140 yards

(We have to share one opening par-3 where you won't get an ace - the 140-yard opener at Tanna Farms Golf Club in Geneva, Ill., that finishes on an island green. Talk about an intimidating first swing of the day!)