Australian Frances Bondad won a BMW 640i convertible worth 102,500 Euros when she holed in one at the 16th in the final round of the Deloitte Ladies Open.
The 23-year-old from Greystanes in New South Wales registered her first hole in one at a professional tournament when she struck a gripped down 4-iron into the 146-metre hole.
Her prize was more valuable than the winner’s cheque at the tournament, worth 37,500 Euros and there were smiles and high-fives all round as she walked off the 18th hole at Golfclub Broekpolder.
At first, she asked her caddie, Marc Kourie, to articulate as she grinned and said: “I’m kind of speechless at the moment. As soon as I teed the ball up, I looked at the car and I’m like, ‘This is mine,’ and I did my practise swings. I made sure I lined myself up properly and then as soon as I hit it I said, ‘Get in the hole,’ because it looked good. Then I saw it get close and everyone was like, ‘Ooooh.’
“Then I see my caddie, Marc, running over to me, giving me the hug and lifting me up in the air. I was like, ‘What are you doing? It’s just close!’ He said, ‘No, it went in the hole.’ The funny thing was, yesterday, on that same hole I hit my shot and it landed on the green and just for a laugh I’m like, ‘Oh it’s mine!’ to the car. That was yesterday, and he (Marc) actually said a little prayer before I teed it up today. It’s kind of a co-incidence I think.”
It was her third hole in one as she had previously scored two in practise rounds. Last year, Bondad earned finished 27th on the Henderson Money List with season’s earnings of 80,370.51 Euros.
She tied for 36th in the tournament overall on a total of six over par, with rounds of 72, 75 and 75.
