Tiger Woods, Seve Ballesteros and Bobby Jones are three of the greatest names in the history of golf, yet none have matched the feat of this 79-year-old — who didn't even pick up a club until he was 45.

Hobart man Albie Francis had an 18-hole score on a championship course that was less than his age.

"I shot a score that's actually under my age," he said.

"I'm 79 years old and I shot a 78."

The so-called "breaking your age" is one of the rarest feats in golf — but what makes Mr Francis's achievement even more remarkable is that he has never been much better than your average club golfer.

The lowest handicap Mr Francis ever had is 11.

"I actually never played golf until I was 45 years old. I was involved in motor racing," the former race car driver and mechanic said.

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Golf professional Scott Priest said it was almost unheard of for a player who has never been an elite golfer to beat their age.

Albie says he recently did some work to "improve his swing" — seems like it paid off! ( ABC News: Guy Stayner )

"Usually, the only guys that ever do that, and it's super rare, are guys that have been very low handicappers back in their youth," he said.

While eight-time major champion Tom Watson recently shot 69 on the US Senior Tour at the age of 70, Mr Francis's 78 was just one stroke shy of his best-ever score, shot 20 years ago.

Mr Francis's achievement was at the Tasmania Golf Club in Hobart last week, where the course is 6,214 metres in total length.

He plays off a handicap of 16 and has an average drive of less than 200 metres.

"It's absolutely incredible, especially at a course like this," Mr Priest said.

"It's a championship course, it's such a long course. It's amazing that anyone could do that."

'You're close', golf partner buddy said

Golfers who want to break their age have to wait a lifetime to do it — it is almost impossible for anyone under the age of 70.

Illness, injury and accidents have prevented many former golfing greats like Ballesteros, Payne Stewart and Jones from ever having the opportunity to beat their age.

But Mr Francis's playing partner Glen O'Keefe had a hunch his friend was on the brink of something special.

"We were talking about his upcoming 80th birthday in April and I said to him, 'I think you're getting close to breaking your age'.

"Little did I know, Saturday was the day," Mr O'Keefe said.

Mr Francis said he recently improved his swing and considers himself a good putter — with his memorable round featuring 10 one-putts, where on the green only one attempt is needed to hole the ball.

"When you can't hit the ball a long way, it's always good when you can putt well," he said with a grin.