What do you consider a "true" eagle? - Page 2

I would say that the OP has two legit eagles... yes the first may have been easier than the second, but it's still legit in my opinion.

Exactly

My first two eagles were on a drivable par 4. They felt chintzy, but no worse than eagles on some of the reach in two par 5's I have had them on.

Definitely have more grand feelings for the ones that required solid drives and full tee shots. 5 iron from 185 was my best, but a 9 iron in a competitive match was another good one.

Using your logic, that a 3 wouldn't have been an eagle, why would you consider a 4 birdie

My first eagle happened when my short iron to the green landed on a sprinkler cover...bounded up in the air about 30 feet...dropped and rolled down a hill into the hole.

 

I'm thinking it was either a cheap eagle as my short iron was short of the green.

 

Or, I'm thinking it was an incredible eagle as the odds of it ending in the hole after bouncing it off the sprinkler cover are astronomical.

To me, an eagle is a major accomplishment.  I'd definitely be happy with either.
 

Did you watch the event at Congressional?    ......#7 played as short as 258yds!!   Make a 2 on that hole and it's still an eagle, IMO.     Granted, it's not the same as muni-golf.......but a 2 on a par4 is an eagle no matter how you slice it.  My 2 cents......

 

If it's a wide open hole playing like a par3........I'd agree to some extent.  Hell....I play a 247yd par three every time I tee it up.  It really depends on the hole.  I'd still count the 2, but wouldn't brag too much if I knew the hole was a pushover. I've made 11 par4 eagles and only 1 was a 2-putt.....it still counts!!.....(the hole played 366yds)

There are easier holes and harder holes. Easier holes tend to yield better scores. An eagle is when you get the ball in the hole in two strokes under par while playing by the rules.

Do you feel bad about par-ing an easy par-4? Do you not count birdies on the shortest par-3 on the course? Etc... There are hard holes where you're pretty much guaranteed to not shoot under par, and there are easy holes where you have a really good chance at it. Everyone plays the same par, and every course has harder and easier holes.

Sure there are similar accomplishments that are of different levels of difficulty, for example a hole-in-one on a 220-yard par-3 is harder than a hole-in-one on a 130-yard par-3. But the accomplishment still is what it is. I don't think it makes sense to trivialize it for not "really" being what it is because you think the challenge posed wasn't hard enough.

The pros count easy eagles just like hard ones. When Phil drives a par-4 and drains a long putt, it's counted as an eagle.

If i hit my shot and it bounces off a tree is picked up by a bird and dropped in the hole for an Eagle , then its an Eagle , im claiming it until i get another more  "feel good" one  

Got my first ever eagle on Saturday!  472 yard par 5.  The fairway becomes very narrow off the tee so I used 5w and hit it well right down the middle, then went 3w to about 10 yards to the left of the green but pin-high.  Chipped in for my first eagle.  Sorry for bragging, but it was awesome.
 

Earlier this season due to very wet conditions the course I play had moved the white tees up next to the reds. That turned a certain par 3 into a 125yd hole. My tee shot ended up within 2 feet of the hole. IF it would've went in, there's no doubt I would have counted it as a hole in one AND an eagle!

Obviously not all eagles are created equal.  If you are one of the one's who thinks so, would you put an eagle from the ladies tees on a par-5 in the same category as one from the tips?  Obviously there's a difference and you can't say, "I shot -2, so it's an eagle." 

 

Here's what I, just my opinion and for my own evaluation mostly, would consider "easy" eagles, keeping in mind that eagle requires 2 really good strikes and 1 really good putt, or some really great shot like a hole-out:

 

Short (~440 yards) par-5 on a muni where you get on in two with 4-iron, 9-iron.  I do this all the time at a course I play and don't really think of the more highly than birdies.  If I make a par on this hole, I feel like I lost a stroke, which I would have against a decent field.

 

Short (~260 yard) par-4 with no trouble whatsoever and requiring nothing more than running a 240 yard shot up onto the green.  It's like birdieing a long par-3.  Good certainly, but different category.

 

Here's what I would generally consider "hard" eagles.

 

Long par-5, solid 290+ yard drive, 5w or higher approach, hole a 25 footer, or layup and hole-out.

Drive a decent length par-4 with some trouble around the green, forced carry, hole a putt.

Hole out on a long par-4.

 

Basically, you can say, "It's -2 on the card, so it's an eagle", but you might not have gained 2 strokes on the field.  Gaining more than 1 stroke on the field on any single hole is pretty damn good whether you call it eagle or not.

 

Congratulations... and Roll Tide!

Easy or hard eagles? Heard a great comment from Nick Faldo during the tournament yesterday! Someone made a great sand shot from a greenside bunker and Faldo said "why is it a great shot when it ends up a foot from the hole but a lucky shot if it goes in?" It seems like what you're saying that a short well placed shot isn't nearly as "good" as a long shot with an extremely luck roll out that you obviously didn't "plan" on happening?

I've got 3 that I claim. No mulligans, no favorable lies, just 3 strokes each.

 

6 years ago, par 5 530 yards. Elevated tee box, smashed drive to right center of fairway. Played a 3w into and elevated green ball hits front and bounces up, I was just happy to have been straight at the green, muchless the flag. We walk up the front of the green and there it is, 18 inches from the hole. Tap in and walk away happy as can be.

 

Skip forward to last summer, yes that long before it happened again. Another par 5, can't recall yardage. Big dog leg left down a hill. Driver got the perfect bounce to roll an extra 40+ yards setting up a 6 iron into an elevated green. Same thing as before, walk up and there it is, just outside a foot of the cup.

 

And finally one this year! on that hole, 521 yard par 5. Played from blues to the right side of water. Stood around for waiting on slow couple again, finally whacked 3h up to around 60 yards out. 

 

Flag had a nice front left position, grabbed the 50* ping g15 wedge and lofted it up. I actually tugged it a little left but caught the edge of the fringe and got a beautiful kick right.... a nice slow roll at the flag and the ball disappeared. My buddy was goofing around on his phone and missed it. I did a little fist pump jump thing and he's like wtf are you doing? Eagle baby! He sighed and said BS... The random we were partnered with that day comes rolling up from taking his shot about 50 yards back and asks if it went in, I replied hell yeah! The entire foursome behind us saw the whole thing. I got a 4 stranger standing ovation from the group behind us.

 

 

The first two were nice but having small tap ins didn't feel near as good as the 60 yard hole out. I saved that ball and it still sits on my night stand.

 

I can see where you are coming from with this.  I would feel the same way on a very short par 5 hole unless it had some sort of difficulty besides length.  If I can have a mid-iron for my second shot, then it isn't really a par 5.  But still, 2 under par on most ay hole is a good score. 

 

But the reverse is true too.  If I can't reach a hole in two with my best effort, then it isn't really a par 4, no matter what it says on the card.  I played a par 3 which requires a 230 yard carry or a layup halfway.  Never went back to that course.  That isn't a fair par 3 to me either, so maybe your short par 4 was still a "true" eagle.

2 under par is an eagle, even if it is a 270 yd par 4, you still have to execute 2 perfect shots.

An Eagle where you hole out from a good distance with a good iron shot is the best kind. Any Eagle that you putt for is not quite as awesome in my opinion, but it is still an Eagle on the card.