Walsh makes first career hole-in-one

Kailey Walsh of Boca Raton, Fla., was 1-under-par after her first seven holes in Wednesday’s second round of the AJGA Florida Junior when she came up to the tee on the par-3 17th.

After No. 17, she was 3-under-par. She had made her first hole-in-one.

“When it first hit the green, I didn’t know if it was going to check back at all, and it did,” she said. “I hit my 7-iron about 3 inches past the hole and it rolled back into the hole,” she said. “I never expected that to happen.”

When the ball dropped, there were only a handful of witnesses: the timing station volunteer, a parent, a coach, the shuttle driver, and just one of her playing partners.

“Only me and one of my playing partners saw it, the other one was in her bag,” Walsh said. “We were excited and the other one was like, ‘What happened!?’”

This was Walsh’s first hole-in-one of her career, but she’s been close before.

“You have a couple that are just inside of a foot and just sit on the edge, but none made it until today,” she said.

Walsh finished the second round with a 1-under-par 71 and has jumped into third place at 3-over-par 147. She is three strokes behind the leader, but maybe another ace can help her move to the top.

“I hope I can do it again tomorrow,” Walsh said. “I will try my best.”

Written by Tim Wing, AJGA Communications