Amateur Aldrich Potgieter of South Africa hit a hole-in-one on a par 4. Picture: Patrick Smith/Getty Images
South African amateur golfer Aldrich Potgieter hit a hole in one on a par 4 in a PGA Tour Monday qualifier in Illinois, USA.
The young South African achieved the incredible and rare feat at the 345-yard, par-4 17th hole at Pinnacle Country Club in Milan, Illinois, a qualifying event for the John Deere Classic PGA Tour event this week.
Potgieter’s incredible shot, with a driver, sadly didn’t help him get into the event as he fell one shot short of qualifying, after a six-under-par 66.
According to the PGA Tour, there has been just one par-4 hole-in-one recorded in PGA Tour-sanctioned competition; Andrew Magee on the 17th hole at the 2001 WM Phoenix Open.
“That was really exciting, and it was kind of a weird moment,” Potgieter said of his par-4 ace, according to pgatour.com.
“I didn’t see it go in, so I didn’t know. Kind of a blind tee shot, but … when I saw my caddie run out to the fairway, and was pumping up his arms and going wild, I thought it was probably like a foot or two.
“And he said no, it was in the hole. So it wasn’t like one you see on a par 3 and you go wild with the crowd. It was kind of a quiet moment to yourself where you’re like, ‘I still can’t believe that happened.'”
Potgieter is one of the rising stars in world golf. Last year he became the second-youngest winner of The Amateur, an event that dates back to 1885. He also made the cut at last month’s US Open — the only South African to do so.