Option does not exist error when passing through option from controller to embedded Symfony form

As you have discovered, each form type has a predefined list of options. Adding a new option requires a slight adjustment. The actual method has changed over the course of Symfony development so you may come across some older depreciated solutions.

The most up to date solution is discussed here: http://symfony.com/blog/new-in-symfony-2-7-form-and-validator-updates#deprecated-setdefaultoptions-in-favor-of-configureoptions

So basically add

public function configureOptions(OptionsResolver $resolver)
{
    $resolver->setDefaults(array(
        'data_class' => 'AppBundle\Entity\Whatever',
        'numOfHoles' => 0,
    ));

To your form types and you should be good to go.