With odds claimed to be at about 12,500 to 1, making a hole-in-one is an exceptionally rare achievement. However, it happened not once, not twice, but three times on the same 16th hole at the Tong Hwa Golf Club today in the second round of TLPGA Tour′s Taiwan Mobile Ladies Open.

Even more surprisingly, two of which were scored in the same group by Hanna Chen (陳子涵) and Lynn Chiu (邱齡緹). Overnight leader Lee Min (李旻) later repeated the record, making it three aces in one day – a feat of immense magnitude. This was in fact the fourth hole-in-one in this tournament already after Chang Ya-Chi (張亞琦) opened the ace count yesterday. With this, Lee went birdie, eagle, bogey, birdie in the final four holes on Thursday, racing back into lead with a second-round 69 and a 36-hole total of 7-under. Cheng Ssu-Chia (程思嘉) shared the top position after shooting a 67.

“I stepped onto the 16th tee, and I was like, ‘the pin position is so tough, how did they (Chen and Chiu) make it!’ It was really hard to believe, and they even did it in the same playing group,” said Lee, who herself chose her 8-iron from 148 yards, added a little left-to-right spin to the shot, and saw the ball find the bowl after one bounce. She made an ace, too.

This marks Lee′s fifth career ace. Although the hole-in-hole prize of a Sharp′s 70-inch 8K TV, worth NT$350,000, was already given to Chang, today’s ace-makers Lee, Chen, and Chiu each received a bonus cash prize of NT$115,000 by title sponsor Taiwan Mobile and Tong Hwa Golf Club.

The magic on Hole 16 caught Cheng Ssu-Chia off guard, however. Her thoughts swung on which club to use with the wind making it even more difficult. She missed the green in the end, and two-putted to leave with a bogey, her only blemish on the second-round scorecard. She had six birdies to finally turn in a 67. “The pin was tucked to the right of the green, which was actually tougher than yesterday,” said Cheng. “But I was very happy with the way I′m playing. I haven’t been playing this well this whole year. Everything was going well as how I wanted it.”

A multiple Tour titlist already when she was an amateur, Cheng has yet to get a taste of the victory after she turned pro in 2014.

Cheng will be starting in the last group at 9:05 on Friday morning with co-leader Lee and Thai player Wanchana Poruangrong, who is tied for third with Lin Tzu-Chi (林子麒).

Hanna Chen bounced back from a first-round 75 to sit in equal 10th right now after also a 67. She used her 8-iron, hitting into the wind, and made the first of the three hole-in-ones on the 16th. “I didn′t even know I made it until I heard a loud cheer from the crowd!” said Chen.

Right after Chen, Chiu took a 7-iron to replicate what Chen did. The two came to the green and realized they almost hit the exact same spot. “It′s amazing, scary amazing!” said Chiu. “I was still congratulating her and thinking, great, my dinner will be on her (Chen), and it just happened again to me. I was in awe.”

Last week′s Tainan Professional Ladies Open champion Babe Liu (劉依貞) sit in a tie for fifth. Liu set a new low 18-hole scoring record on the TLPGA Tour with a 10-under 62 in the second round in Tainan.

15-year-old prodigy Wu Chia-Yen (吳佳晏) carded a 69 to close Round Two on 3-under 141. “My iron game wasn′t too sharp but my putting was solid, especially on the back nine. I was able to convert the few chances I had,” said the 2018 Party Golfer Ladies Open winner. Wu is now tied with fellow amateur Chou Yi-Ting (周翊庭) for eighth.

A cut was made at 4-over 148 with 59 players moving on to the final round tomorrow.

This is the second-annual Taiwan Mobile Ladies Open, featuring a prize purse of NT$5 million.