St. Thomas women’s golfer and first-year Claudia Kim made a hole-in-one at the MIAC women’s golf championship on Sept. 28-30 at Pebble Creek Golf Club in Becker, Minnesota. The hole-in-one came the first day of the championship on Sept. 28.

Kim made the 138-yard shot on the sixth hole which was a par three.

She thought she hit the ball too hard and it ended up in the water.

“I saw it land and disappear, so I was like, shoot it just went straight into the water,” Kim said. “Then everyone started cheering…I got so happy tears started coming into my eyes.”

Kim “felt like a celebrity” with everyone telling her great job as she retrieved her ball.

Head golf coach Sara Evens said that getting a hole-in-one is one of the hardest things to do in golf.

“You need everything to align just perfectly,” Evens said. “People play for years… thousands of rounds and never get a hole-in-one,” Evens said.

This may have been Kim’s first hole-in-one as a Tommie, but not her first ever.

Kim made one while golfing with her dad and sister Cayla when she was 13 years old.

Kim’s dad introduced her to the sport at eight years old, and she soon fell in love with the game. She golfed all through-out high school at Shattuck St. Marys in Faribault, MN.

This hole-in-one felt more real and satisfying to her since it was during a collegiate tournament.

This achievement adds to an already successful fall season for the first-year.

Kim came in second during a two day tournament at the College of St. Benedict (CSB) invite on August 31-Sept. 1. She shot a 78 the first day and a 75 the second day for a total of 153.

Kim tied for first shooting a 3-under-par 69 at the Wartburg Fall Invite on Sept. 7-8.
Evens is pleased as the team’s fall season comes to a close. She noted that the underclassmen’s performances really helped the team this fall.

“I thought they did a great job,” Evens said. “The freshmen definitely made an impact.”

Rae Beaner can be reached at rnbeaner696@stkate.edu.