Audrey Bowermaster didn’t wait long to sink her first career hole-in-one.
The Junior Princeville was playing her second ever high school golf game and won a hole Monday at Hidden Lakes Golf Club in Sheffield, about an hour north of Peoria.
“She’s never played golf,” said coach Jeff Kratzer. “I think this summer she took a couple of thugs for the first time.”
Bowermaster hit an ace on the 17th hole, a 115-yard par 3. The odds of a hole-in-one are 12,500 to 1 according to the PGA, which also says the average golfer plays 24 years before his first ace.
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Bowermaster joined the Princeville golf team this season, completing a week of training before their first competition last week. Then she did what 1% to 2% of golfers do every year – make a hole-in-one.
Kratzer first asked Bowermaster if she was kidding. But her playing partner Kiara Cihla and the parents of opposing players confirmed the rare performance.
This is the first time in Kratzer’s eight years as coach that one of his players has hit an ace. He plays golf every day in the summer and hasn’t posted a hole-in-one yet.
“She has not been involved in golf in her entire life,” said Kratzer. “So basically I taught her golf and golf etiquette … I think she had no idea how big it was.”
Ironically, Kratzer narrowly missed out on Bowermaster’s hole-in-one. He was on the 17th hole watching the action but went back to the clubhouse to collect scorecards as Cihla and Bowermaster were one hole behind him.
“I was so close to seeing it,” he said.
Adam Duvall is a sports reporter for Journal Star. Email him at [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.