WEST LAFAYETTE – The odds of hitting a hole-in-one on a Par 3 of the golf course are estimated to between 1 and 12,500.
Add pressure, nerves and a duty to perform to the mix and the likelihood of seeing a hole-and-one becomes one of the most improbable moments of sports.
But acing a Par-3 on hole five is exactly what Harrison freshman Nola Painter accomplished on Monday.
Not only was it during a tournament, it occurred during the IHSAA Girls Golf Sectionals at Coyote Crossing Golf Course. A tournament that Harrison would go onto win by nine strokes.
“I hit a hybrid on a Par-3 and it just rolled in,” Painter said. “I was shaking I was so excited.”
While Painter kept her emotions in check, her mother Carrie struggled to keep her emotions in check.
It was Nola’s first hole-in-one ever. She’s been playing since the fifth grade. And yet it was in one of the biggest tournaments of her young career that Nola would give Harrison a massive edge towards winning its first IHSAA Sectional Championship since 2020.
“I started crying,” Carrie Painter said. “Everyone was so excited and so supportive. All the teams and parents that were watching her were so kind and she was just on cloud nine.”
Painter maintained her composure throughout the afternoon after pocketing her tee shot on five. She shot a 93 to help solidify the Harrison first place advance into regionals.
“I love the sounds of the game,” Painter said. “I like when I hit a good shot. It feels nice.”
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Harrison freshman Nola Painter hits hole in one at Coyote Crossing
