Australian LPGA Tour winner Grace Kim made a hole-in-one during the second round of the Dow Championship on Friday in Midland, Mich.
The 23-year-old aced the par-3 7th hole at Midland Country Club, holing out from 145 yards with her 7-iron to record the first hole-in-one of both her life and her LPGA Tour career on day two of the Dow Championship, an incredible accomplishment for the 2023 LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei winner who is in just her second year on the LPGA Tour.
“I hit a three-quarter 7-iron. The wind was off the left, so I was like, 8 is not going to get there,” Kim said of her strategy on the seventh hole. “I was obviously just trying to put it close. All I see is it disappear. I've had a lot of close shaves, and this is actually my first one, so it’s very exciting. Everyone was really happy for me, so it was very nice to share that moment.”
Grace’s partner this week and her fellow Epson Tour graduate Auston Kim accomplished the same feat just a few months ago at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro, holing out for an ace of her own on the par-3 18th hole at Wilshire Country Club, and was incredibly excited to watch her teammate join the hole-in-one club in the Great Lakes State.
“Right when it came off the face, I knew that it was good,” Auston said. “Right when it came off the face, it sounded so solid, and it took one really good bounce and crept in. I’m so happy for you because I know what it's like. It was very cool to watch, and so happy for (Grace) to finally get her first hole-in-one.”
If you have watched Kim compete on the LPGA Tour before, you might notice that Grace often has a duck pin fastened to her hat. That pin is in the image of Leuk the Duck, a character created by cartoonist Mark Knight for the Australian non-profit Challenge, an organization that supports children and families who are dealing with cancer.
Kim’s fellow Australian professional golfer, Jarrod Lyle, repeatedly wore a Leuk the Duck pin when playing on the Kory Ferry and PGA Tours to raise awareness for childhood cancer. Having first developed leukemia as a teenager, Lyle was an ambassador for Challenge and is closely associated with Leuk as well as the color yellow, often wearing a yellow bucket hat with Leuk the Duck pinned to it while he competed all across the globe.
Lyle passed away from the disease in 2018, and Kim continues wearing her Leuk pin as a reminder of Jarrod and his legacy, something that often provides her perspective as Grace tees it up week in and week out on the LPGA Tour.
“Jarrod Lyle back in the day obviously passed away. I wasn't fortunate enough to meet him in person, but I go through his family, through the Cancer Council Foundation and the Leuk Foundation,” Kim explained. “They have this duck called Leuk, but it's spelled L-e-u-k for leukemia because (Jarrod) passed away with that.
“It's just a recognition for him and how great of a person (Jarrod) was, playing golf on the PGA Tour with that mindset and going through all of that. It's just a true inspiration, especially as an Aussie, to be recognizing him that way everywhere we go. A few of us have that duck pin.”
In honor of Kim’s ace, CME Group will donate $20,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as part of their CME Group Cares Challenge – Score 1 for St. Jude. The Challenge is a season-long charitable campaign that turns aces into donations with a minimum guaranteed donation of $500,000 to St. Jude's, which is leading the way in how the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and life-threatening diseases.
Kim’s hole-in-one is the 10th ace recorded in an LPGA Tour tournament this season and raises the 2024 donation total to $200,000.
While the Aussie was elated to make her first hole-in-one ever on Friday at the Dow Championship, a hole out that ultimately lifted her and her playing partner Auston Kim to the top of the leaderboard through 36 holes in Michigan, it was the opportunity to donate to something as important as cancer research that really struck a chord for Kim.
The disease has touched nearly every life in one way or another, and Kim expressed plenty of gratitude at the opportunity to have a donation made in her honor, understanding just how significant it is to be able to help others via her performance on the golf course on any given week.
“I thought it was nothing because there wasn't a car, there wasn't any cash on the line, but to hear that I'm donating it to St. Jude's Children's (Research) Hospital, that really warms my heart,” said Kim, surprised when hearing about CME's contribution on her behalf. “I always like helping out people in need, as well. Very heartwarming.”
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