Jang Ha-na hits par-4 hole-in-one for first time in 66-year LPGA history

Jang Ha-na hits par-4 hole-in-one for first time in 66-year LPGA history. February. 01, 2016 07:29. by 김종석기자 kjs0123@donga.com. Standing in the tee box at Hole 8 surrounded by sea, Jang Ha-na (24) used her 3-Wood to play tee shot. After falling onto the green, the ball rolled over and over about 3 to 4 meters toward the pin and disappeared into the cup. Jang went onto the green to pull out the ball, and took a deep bow to celebrate her first par-4 hole-in-one. It was an historic moment in which the first ever par-4 hole-in-one was recorded in the history of the LPGA, which was established in 1950.

Jang became the heroine to make history of the LPGA Tour at the third round of the Bahama Classic, which was the first championship of this season’s LPGA Tour held at the Ocean Club Golf Course (par 73) on Paradise Island in the Bahamas on Saturday. Hole 8, at which Jang set the historic record, was originally a 310-yard hole, but was set up shorter as a 218-yard hole on this day. “I estimated the distance at 208 yards up to the edge of the green. I hit full swing by estimating the distance at 225 yards by taking into account the headwind," Jang said. "I felt great when I shot, and an incredible thing has happened.”

This is the second time that Jang, who has had six career hole-in-ones in total, has secured albatross (double eagle), a performance in which a golfer plays three pars less than the standard pars. “I had an albatross at par-5 hole at Montgomery Golf Club while engaging in overseas training in Da Nang, Vietnam in January 2013," Jang said. "I garnered three championship titles in that year. I hope to garner many wins again this time.”

The second shot sometimes makes it all the way into the cup at a par-5 hole, but it is considered almost impossible to garner a hole-in-one at a par-4 hole due to the long distance. The probability to hit a hole-in-one is about one 12,000th, and the probability to achieve an albatross is one 2 millionth, according to the U.S. magazine Golf Digest. The probability to play a hole-in-one at a par-4 hole is estimated at one 5,850,000th.

Even in the PGA tour, there has been only one hole-in-one recorded at a par-4 hole. Andrew Magee had a 332-yard hole-in-one at Hole 17 (par 4) at the Phoenix Open in 2001, when his tee shot hit the putter of Tom Byrum, who was playing in the group prior to his, before amazingly making it into the cup. There has been no case in the history of Korean PGA or Korean LPGA tours yet.