Golf has the tendency to create memorable moments and, during the u13 National Car Rental PGA Jr League Championship, that's exactly what happened to Utah's Emery Johnson, who made his first ever hole-in-one.
The tournament consists of 12 teams of eight, so 96 junior golfers aged between 10-13 years of age. Being shown on ESPN, the 132-yard shot from 12-year-old Johnson never left the flag, with it slam-dunking for an incredible ace and jubilant celebrations.
Excellent!👏pic.twitter.com/9wFQNI57V3October 12, 2024
Amongst those in attendance was Jraice Finau, the son of PGA Tour star Tony Finau, along with Tony himself, who is helping coach Team Utah this week after opting to skip the Black Desert Championship in his home-state of Utah.
Hitting a 6-iron, Johnson's tee shot never left the flag and, after striking the base of it, the ball stayed in the hole for the hole-in-one. After a moment of quietness, the realisation hit and, as you can see from the video, Team Utah were keen to be involved in the celebrations.
Picking up his team-mate, Jraice and Johnson were then joined by other Utah players who were waiting on the other tee boxes nearby, with Johnson stating after that: “I’ve never had a hole in one before!"
He went on tell ESPN that “the wind was into us so I clubbed up a little and hit a little draw in there. I knew I hit it good, but I heard it hit the pin and I couldn’t see it. I saw my other teammates on the next hole and they ran toward me. Jraice picked me up and everyone was giving me high fives.”
Taking place at the PGA Frisco’s Fields Ranch West in Frisco, Texas, it's Team Georgia who lead after day one. Firing a 38-under-par total, both Utah and Florida are just a handful of shots behind with two days remaining.
