March 15, 2004
ST. CROIX, U.S. Virgin Islands – During the St. Croix Collegiate Classic women’s golf tournament hosted by Xavier University in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Longwood University junior Tucker McCarthy/Richmond (Douglas Freeman) accomplished a rare golf feat during the second round (March 13), sinking her first collegiate hole-in-one on the par-3, 129-yard 14th hole. McCarthy hit a shot with her 8-iron less than a foot beyond the hole. The ball spun back, finding the bottom of the cup.
“I was very excited (about the hole-in-one),” said McCarthy. “I didn’t believe that the ball actually rolled back into the cup. It was such a surreal moment.”
“We picked the target, just right of the hole, allowing the wind to carry the ball,” explained second-year Lancer head coach Lane Pace. “The ball did exactly what we had intended, starting slightly right of the hole with the wind pushing it left towards the hole and it landed just past the flag stick. With a combination of back spin and the slope of the green, it rolled right into the hole. We were utterly shocked and excited as everyone is with a hole-in-one. When Chelsea hit her’s in, the entire group erupted with disbelief and excitement.”
Ironically, the other two women in McCarthy’s group, also scored an ace during the same round, Illinois State’s Chelsea Bach following McCarthy on the same hole, while Rend Lake’s (Ill.) Casey Biddinger got her hole-in-one on the par-3, 165-yard 17th hole.
“It was very ironic that Chelsea and I made an ace on the same hole,” commented McCarthy. “We were just on cloud nine for a while, then we got to the 17th and Casey made her hole-in-one. I was shocked that all three of us aced a hole within one hour of each other.”
“It was truly unbelievable that all three women made a one during the same round,” added Pace. “It was probably one of the most exciting moments in golf that I have experienced in my 30-year career.”
The Richmond-native and third-year Lancer finished the tournament with a three-day total of 273 after firing rounds of 95-83-95.
Longwood closed-out the tournament in 12th-place among the 14 teams with its 54-hole total of 346-332-322-1000 at the par-72, 6,020-yard Carambola Golf Resort. Southern Methodist University won the event with its three-day score of 296-311-309-916.
