At 17 years old, Irene Vatjaranuruk has accomplished what most golfers dream about but hardly ever do — a hole in one.
The Santa Monica High School senior and member of Samohi’s girls varsity golf team, got a hole in one last week at the Penmar Golf Course in Mar Vista, which is the school’s home course.
Vatjaranuruk said she had been playing horribly but then on hole No. 8, a 141-yard par 3, her game turned around.
She was the only female in a group of four men, all of who hit short of the green or off of the fairway. She grabbed her 7 iron and went for the green.
“I hit last and it dropped a foot from the pin and it kept rolling,” Vatjaranuruk said. “All of the guys went into complete silence... they were gawing over it.”
Vatjaranuruk never expected the ball would keep rolling. The ball, which landed in front of the pin, took its time dropping into the cup.
“I kept thinking, it’s a birdie,” she said. “It was the slowest rolling ball you’ll ever see... it was freakin’ dramatic.”
“I kept thinking, it’s a birdie. It was the slowest rolling ball you’ll ever see... it was freakin’ dramatic.” — — IRENE VATJARANURUK SAMOHI senior
Once the group realized what had happened, the men began jumping up and down on the tee box, making more noise than what’s socially acceptable on a golf course.
Vatjaranuruk, whose handicap varies between 5 and 10, began golfing three years ago. She used to play hockey, but gave it up once the boys got bigger than her.
She plays for Samohi twice a week during the team’s season which starts in mid September and runs through November.
After she sunk the ball, she called her coach, Marty Verdugo, from the ninth tee box.
Verdugo couldn’t believe it and asked her if she had witnesses.
“What a once in a lifetime thing,” he said. “Professionals spend their whole careers trying to do that.”
Vatjaranuruk, who plays several times a week at Penmar, a nine-hole track near the Santa Monica Airport, said she logged a seven on hole No. 1, which is a par four. From there, she was hitting double and triple bogies.
“It was one of the worst days,” she said.
Vatjaranuruk and Verdugo hope last Thursday’s event wasn’t just a fluke, but rather a sign of what’s to come for the Samohi team this season. Last year, the eight-girl team came in second in the Ocean League, which includes Beverly Hills, Torrance, Palos Verdes and St. Monica’s.
“It’s good that she is practicing this summer,” Verdugo said. “A lot of the girls don’t pick up their clubs all summer.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 2, 2003. Read the original PDF.