Sophomore Jessy Young celebrates her hole-in-one (Courtesy of Jessy Young)

Sophomore Jessy Young saw her ball land close to the hole, but she couldn’t tell where it ended up. She was staring into the sun, and she’d mishit her 9-iron on the 132-yard par-3 eighth hole. Then, her mother, who flew in from Atlanta to watch, started screaming. Young had made her first-ever hole-in-one. 

Young’s ace on Sept. 15 was the second by a WashU golfer in less than a week. First-year Jessica Liu made a hole-in-one from 145 yards away with a 7-iron in a practice round at a different course, just three days before Young’s.

Young was playing alongside junior Nicole McGuire in match play against Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships. The tournament was held at Elks Run Golf Club in Batavia, Ohio.

“It was super nice having my teammate and my mom there and having it be in the tournament,” Young said. “We started jumping up and down and screaming.”

Young’s ace capped off a four-hole stretch in which she went from three holes down to one up. She ended up tying the match with CMU first-year Yixuan Chen. 

“I was definitely on a high for a while, but then on the next tee shot I had to be like, ‘Okay, [your opponent] is really good still. You have to focus,’” Young said.

Head Coach Dave Reinhardt wasn’t with Young during her ace, but saw her a few minutes later. 

“I wanted to make sure that she kept the golf ball and that she wasn’t playing with it,” Reinhardt said. “But she didn’t want to [switch balls]. She wanted to keep the good luck with that golf ball going.”

This is the first time Reinhardt has seen two aces at the collegiate level within three days. 

“The odds are about one in 10,000, so I was just super happy for her and proud of her,” Reinhardt said. “It definitely helped [Young] finish that day strong.”

First-year Jessica Liu makes her third lifetime hole-in-one (Courtesy of Jessica Liu)

This was Liu’s third hole-in-one. She made one in seventh grade and another during a match in her first year of high school before her ace at Westborough Country Club on Sept. 12.

“I was like ‘Wait, that’s the perfect distance for my 7-iron,’” Liu said. “It just happened to be hit really well. And I saw it go in, and we were really hyped. It’s the same feeling every single time. It’s super exciting.”

Westborough Country Club gave Liu a flag to commemorate the shot. It now hangs in her dorm room. Liu also said she sent photos to her parents, who sent her $100 in return.

“It’s so cool that we both made one,” Liu said. “So we’re hole-in-one twins.”