IVINS, Utah — There was only one way for Jennifer Kupcho to celebrate the hole-in-one she made on the par-3 3rd hole on Saturday at Black Desert Resort – cupcakes.

The 27-year-old recently launched a podcast in partnership with one of her sponsors titled “Cupcakes with Kupcho,” a series in which the three-time LPGA Tour winner has conversations about her life on and off the golf course. So, when tournament staff got word that she had made an ace in the third round, they sent out some cupcakes in honor of Kupcho’s hole-in-one.

The major champion dunked her tee shot on the third hole at the Black Desert Championship presented by Greater Zion, holing out from 155 yards with her 8-iron. At first, she was thinking about taking less club because of how far the ball has been flying at altitude this week in Utah, but Kupcho’s caddie, Josh Udelhofen, encouraged her to go with something longer in case the ball got caught up in the wind.

“I was in between clubs. I thought my 8-iron was going to be too much, so I kind of argued on hitting 9, and thank goodness I didn't,” Kupcho said. “Hit 8, and after I hit it, I was like, ‘Oh, I floated it,’ as if it was going to be short, and it landed perfectly, and I saw it go in. It was really cool. Charley (Hull) and I had kind of a big crowd at that time, so that early in the morning, it was a pretty big roar. It was pretty cool.”

It's the third career ace that Kupcho has made in her time on the LPGA Tour and her first since she made a hole-in-one on the par-3 5th hole at Blythefield Country Club in the final round of the 2023 Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give, a tournament in which she was the defending champion after winning the year before in a playoff over Nelly Korda and Leona Maguire.

Having a hole-in-one early in a round can sometimes derail an athlete’s focus and cause an adrenaline spike that ultimately leads to a mid- or late-day energy crash. But Kupcho took a lot of encouragement from her Saturday hole out and went on to make one bogey and four birdies at Black Desert Resort to post a 5-under 67 on Moving Day, a round-three effort that has the Colorado native sitting at 9-under overall with 18 holes remaining in Ivins, Utah.

“The last couple of weeks, I've been struggling to be comfortable on the golf course, so when we had all those fans coming out like on the first hole, I was like, ‘Man, I'm shaking,’” Kupcho said. “It definitely calmed my nerves a little bit and let me settle down. Like, okay, I'm good. Let's go.”

Kupcho’s hole-in-one is the third ace to be recorded this season on the LPGA Tour. Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom made the first hole-in-one of 2025 in the first round of the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro last month, and Mary Liu followed her lead later in the week in Los Angeles, holing out on the par-3 15th hole at El Caballero Country Club in the final round to record her first career ace on the LPGA Tour.

All three athletes who have recorded holes-in-one this season have seen a $20,000 donation made on their behalf by CME Group as part of their CME Group Cares Challenge – Score 1 for St. Jude. The Challenge is a season-long charitable giving campaign that turns aces into donations for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to assist with childhood cancer treatment and research.

This season’s donation total is currently at $60,000, with a minimum guaranteed donation of $500,000 going to St. Jude, no matter how many holes-in-one are ultimately recorded in 2025.

Jennifer Kupcho Aces Third Hole on Saturday at Black Desert Championship presented by Greater Zion

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