Christine Wong has wasted little time in pulling off a significant achievement in the infancy stage of her professional golf career.
Making just her second ever start on the Symetra Tour - the official development circuit of the LPGA - the 22-year-old from Richmond aced the par-3 18th hole to conclude her opening round of the IOA Golf Classic in Longwood, Florida.
Wong used a 5-iron on the 173-yard hole to pull off the game's rarest feat. The hole-in-one helped her card an opening round 70 en route to making her firstever cut. She finished tied for 50th after closing with consecutive 74s.
She turned pro last summer after an outstanding amateur career that included four years at San Diego State University and on the national women's amateur team. Wong earned conditional tour status at qualifying school last August, meaning she gets about a week's notice if she is among the tournament entries.
"I made it to the second stage of Q-school," she recalled. "It was a very long and intense week of grinding. I'm hoping to play in as many tournaments as I can and the goal is to be in the top 10 (at season's end) which would get me an LPGA Tour card."
All Wong needs to do now is continue to surprise people and herself.
She didn't start to take the game seriously until she was 14 and three years later had a full-ride scholarship offer to San Diego State. She won her first NCAA Tournament in her freshman season and later that year made the cut by a stroke at the U.S. Open at Oakmont - draining a birdie putt from the fringe the next morning to conclude her second round after a weather delay. She would go on to finish as runner-up low amateur.
Wong would later win two more NCAA tournaments and was the Aztecs' most consistent player during her collegiate career.
The McMath graduate also made her mark at home, capturing a pair of B.C. Amateur titles.
"I always considered myself as an underdog growing up," smiled Wong before a workout at the Pacific Coast Golf Academy indoor facility where she also happens to teach. "When I went to San Diego, my goal was to win at least one event in my career. Then I turned around and won in the first month.
"I just had low expectations in myself and I'm not as confident as my game shows at times. But after that first win, I was definitely more amped for the next three years."
After her trip to qualifying school, Wong found herself in complete charge of her golf career for the first time in four years.
Up until that point, the bulk of her schedule and even practice times were determined by her school and national teams. She spent the winter working with her new coach Brian Jung who runs an academy out of Langley. The time on the range has added more distance off the tee and with her irons, which already were the strengths of her game.
"Brian has helped me lot with my swing," she said. "I've been hitting the ball pretty well and it will be interesting to see how it carries over to warmer weather.
"My short game has always been the focus. I'm going to see bigger courses on this tour which means longer par 4s and using more five and six irons. That means longer putts that I need to be more consistent with."
Wong will get a chance to play close to home next month when the CN Women's Tour takes place at Morningstar in Parksville. The bulk of her playing opportunities will be on the east coast where the majority of the tour events take place. Wong may also look at playing in Asia at some point.
"People are telling me it's going to take two to three years just getting use to the lifestyle," she said. "I'm travelling by myself but the good thing is there are other girls also travelling alone and we are able to share costs.
"Right now I'm relying on myself for everything and I think mentally it makes me a stronger person. "I love tournament golf and feel I can never not play this game. It's a challenge I am excited for."
