A REMARKABLE golf match, which had to be completed in the middle of the night, ended in amazing fashion - with a hole-in-one.

John Hutchinson hit the shot-in-a-million to win a pairs game which finished at nearly 10pm in the pitch black and in the pouring rain.

Mr Hutchinson, from Hartlepool, teamed up with his friend, John Winning, to take part in the national Daily Telegraph Wilsons matchplay championship.

The annual competition stages its grand final in the Algarve, and is currently only at the first round stage.

The pair were drawn against Steve Ingram and Martin McArdle, both Peterlee police officers.

The only time they could fit in a game was late on Friday at a course in Throston, Hartlepool.

As the game progressed and the weather closed in, the two Johns found themselves in front. They only needed to halve the 297-yard par four 15th hole to win the game, but the conditions were appalling.

Mr Winning, from Sedgefield, said: "It was pouring down with rain and pitch black and we all managed to drive the green.

"But we couldn't find John's ball anywhere. Then Steve went to get the flag out and he couldn't believe it - the ball was in the hole."

Mr Hutchinson, who went on holiday the day after his success, had never before achieved a hole-in-one in 35 years of playing.