Park Ji-eun’s First Hole-in-One “Feels Good”

“Grace (Park Ji-eun’s English name), you need to win the car tomorrow. Save the hole-in-one for tomorrow.”

Was that a preface of what was going to come next? That saying of Andy Geard, Park Hee-jung’s caddy who was substitute for Park Ji-eun’s caddy, Dave Brooker, who was sick from enteritis, became real.

On the 17th hole (par 3, officially 165 yards, but revealed to be 144 yards), Park Ji-eun (Nike Golf) made a punch-shot with her 7-iron. The ball fell on the green with a sidespin, and the ball was swallowed by the hole. It happened on October 28 during the pro-am event that preceded the start of the LPGA Tour at CJ Club Nine Bridge.

Although it’s only a pro-am event, Park Ji-eun, who was the winner of the semifinals six times this year, including in two recent tournaments, showed her determination to win the event by getting a hole-in-one for the first time in her life.

To the question, “Was it really your first hole-in-one?” Park answered, “Of course, you know even Park Se-ri hasn’t gotten a hole-in-one yet. I’ll make fun of her when I meet her soon.”

Since it wasn’t a regular round, Park won an Omega watch worth about two million won instead of Peugeot 407. Ironically, she is a publicity worker for Rolex. The mild weather at Nine Bridge helped the players have a pleasant pro-am round. The defending champion, Ahn Si-hyun, seemed happy, saying “Both the weather and my condition are very good.”

Park Se-ri, who corrected her shortcomings in her drive shots with advice from her father, also had a brightened face after the round, said, “Now, finally, the ball is going straight. I have a good feeling. This year has been very valuable to me in various ways. My recent slump has actually helped me.”

The sponsors of the tour decided to award a ceramic trophy and “hanbok” instead of a green jacket to the winner of the tournament.

Sang-Soo Kim ssoo@donga.com