Eagles

[Erik B 4]

On 3/1/2021 at 11:23 AM, Siamese Moose said:

Reading the comments here by so many that almost never have an eagle chance is making me wonder if I'm an outlier, or maybe my courses are. Most of the courses I play have at least one par 5 that I can reasonably expect to hit the green on occasion, Certainly not always (or even most of the time), but often enough that I expect at least one eagle putt every few rounds. For you guys who want a good shot, may I recommend Circling Hills GC, in Harrison, OH (Cincinnati)? The front has three par 5's, two of which I expect to reach at least one out of three times. (I've never hit the other, though I've tried a couple times.) The back has two par 5's. I've never seen anybody reach the first, but 17 is a 90° dogleg left where, if you can place your drive accurately, you need to hit it between 210 and 230. Shorter and longer is blocked, but hit that sweetspot and you've got 150-170 in to a flat green that's easy to putt.

Never played Circling Hills but I’ll have to check it out! 

[twyatt700 1,303]

I’ve had one on a 230 yard par 4 at an executive course, made the putt, but not sure if that counts


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[PMookie 14,223]

I hit the ball pretty long off the tee, so if I can play courses at 6900-7200 I will, so I don’t get a lot of eagle chances. When I play with some friends who like the 6400-ish length I’ll get a couple a month on the Par 5s, so it just really depends on the length of the course I’m playing. There are two par 5s on the public course I play that I can easily hit in two when teeing off from the Blue tees.

[TBT 3,440]

I lipped out an eagle putt today....drove the front edge of the green on a short par 4.
Had a 45 foot uphill putt....hit the edge of the cup and got a full 360 power lip out


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[fixyurdivot 11,496]

On 3/24/2021 at 8:18 PM, PMookie said:

I hit the ball pretty long off the tee, so if I can play courses at 6900-7200 I will, so I don’t get a lot of eagle chances. When I play with some friends who like the 6400-ish length I’ll get a couple a month on the Par 5s, so it just really depends on the length of the course I’m playing. There are two par 5s on the public course I play that I can easily hit in two when teeing off from the Blue tees.

Tee selection is HUGE in this discussion.  There are a few courses I play where I feel the white are too short and blue a little long... particularly under certain wind conditions. Part of my reason for creating the thread was to get a sense of how often folks are getting legit eagle attempts.  I mean looking at the pro's, it seems like they get tons of chances... so why shouldn't we?

[DPattGolf 1,630]

My length definitely helps me get more eagle chances than most. I probably get about a dozen or so eagle putts a month on average. I have have been fortunate to have a couple rounds with multiple eagles and a couple of round with 4 eagle putts. Coolest one definitely has to be that I can say I have hit a 600 yard par 5 in 2 with a driving iron. Granted it was from 3,500+ feet of elevation but I'm taking it!

[Tom the Golf Nut 4,177]

After reading @DPattGolf's last comment on elevation it got me thinking. It seems that golf course design and length are to certain standards regardless of elevation.  So an average golfer in Florida at sea level would have to hit roughly two clubs more than someone at 3 or 4 thousand feet above sea level to achieve the same distance. I played a few times in Denver and had to adapt to the elevation. I was a club and a half longer.  Loved the drives but figuring out the club into the green took some getting used to. I actually made a chart based on "for every 1000 feet above sea level you hit 2 percent further".  I used to keep it in my golf bag so I wouldn't have to calculate until I got used to playing there. I know that I would have more eagle opportunities at elevation than at home. Obviously the older you get the less opportunities present themselves as well due to distance loss.

 

[Micah T 1,101]

Tee selection is HUGE in this discussion.  There are a few courses I play where I feel the white are too short and blue a little long... particularly under certain wind conditions. Part of my reason for creating the thread was to get a sense of how often folks are getting legit eagle attempts.  I mean looking at the pro's, it seems like they get tons of chances... so why shouldn't we?

One thing I didn’t mention earlier is my propensity to 3 putt once I’m outside of 35 feet; and when I’m on in 2, there’s a good chance I’m outside my 2 putt range. I play from the tips most often, sometimes being back there keeps me from reaching trouble, other times it’s to give my higher handicap buddies a better chance during match play.


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[fixyurdivot 11,496]

I had a short chip eagle on the #2 par 5 and nearly did the same on #11 at Desert Hills this morning.  I've never had two eagles in a round... dang that would have been fun to card. Both were big drives and 3w second shots.  I would have putted the 3rd shot on #2 but there was a set of sprinklers in my line... good damn thing they were there .  

[Jmikecpa 12,981]

Through six rounds this year I have made 4 eagles so far.  I made 3 of them on par 5s and last Friday holed a wedge on 16 from 127 yards for a deuce.  Now what I will say is that for 2 of the 3 I made on par 5's so far this year the par was just a number on a scorecard and they were really long par 4s where my second shot was 8 iron or less.  The real three was on a longer par 5 that I came into with lumber.  We do a season long Ringer event at my home club and I made eagle on five holes last year alone, two of which were par 4s.  I generally putt well when I have a shot at the big bird.....now the 6 footer to save par is another story.

[fixyurdivot 11,496]

On 4/2/2021 at 5:45 PM, Jmikecpa said:

Now what I will say is that for 2 of the 3 I made on par 5's so far this year the par was just a number on a scorecard and they were really long par 4s where my second shot was 8 iron or less. 

There does not seem to be a hard and fast rule on what the minimum yardage is for par 5 designation (471-690 often cited).  This makes sense though as the holes layout; elevation change, slope, hazards, dog-leg, could make a 460 yard hole much harder to reach in two than a wide open 510 yard hole.  To me, if the average distance player can occasionally reach the green with two better than average shots, that makes it a good par 5 layout. 

I've played courses with tees in my normal range (6200-6500) whose par 5's are just not reachable with two better than average shots (typically heavily bunkered or water guarded fronts).  Like the pros, I like having a chance at Big Bird's.