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The girls golf tournament that ended with an ace also had consecutive holes-in-one

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The girls golf tournament that ended with an ace also had consecutive holes-in-one

The girls' portion of the Matt Cunningham Preview high school golf tournament hosted by Baylor was held at Sweetens Cove in South Pittsburg, where one of the most startling endings possible took place Tuesday. Another miraculous feat had happened a little earlier.

Coffee County's Ashley Gilliam, a sophomore who has committed to Mississippi State, came to the 130-yard No. 9 closing hole with her team trailing by one stroke. Then, on her final swing of the day, her hole-in-one gave the Lady Raiders a 293-294 win over Rossview.

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"I don't know that there's been a better finish throughout golf history," Baylor coach Gary Partrick said. "Of course, not many courses end with a par-3. But still, she won it with a one."

Clarksville's McKinley Cunningham and Rossview's Sadie Pan, both freshmen, earlier made consecutive holes-in-one on the ninth hole on consecutive swings.

The back-to-back aces defied 17-million-to-1 odds, according to the National Hole-in-One Registry.

"We've had 14 hole-in-ones on that hole since we opened, and I've seen a few of them," said Rob Collins, who designed the nationally honored nine-hole course and watched the magic created by Cunningham and Pan. "It was a thrill to see the first go in, and I was in shock when the second dropped on the very next swing. Because of the way the green slopes, I knew when we were building it that it would yield a high number of ones, but I never expected that back-to-back aces would happen."

In news that seemed to be overshadowed by all the wonders going on, Rossview's Catherine Caudill ended up the medalist with a 142, shooting 68 on the second day. Gilliam was the runner-up at 145.

This article was from Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tenn. and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.