How can a 2-5 handicap have never made an Eagle before?

[nikeblades00]

11 hours ago, bgeorge24 said:

 

Current eagles on tour '21

https://www.pgatour.com/content/pgatour/stats/stat.106.y2021.html

 

You can look at any year, and if you dont see a name guess they didnt make a eagle that year. 

Thanks for posting this. Very cool. Wow Rory only 1 eagle on the season. It tells you how rare they truly are. 

 

[nikeblades00]

As others have said it really depends on your course and tees you play. At my home course one of our par 5s is truly a long par 4. 

[sittingbull]

I dont hit it long enough to make eagles on par 5s i think i have like 5 or 6 total my hole life. But i have a bunch on par 4s with my 2nd shot tho. Plus no Hole in one's either its just weird.

[North Butte]

16 hours ago, LimaSierra said:

Over the last 2 years my handicap fluctuated between 2 and 5. Its gone up a little because I haven't played much due to becoming a parent, but I still play at a high level.

 

Just today I played 9 holes at a course with a buddy of mine. The Par 5s are pretty short at 489 and 503. On the 2nd hole, I hit a great drive and had 217 yards in. I smashed a 4 iron and it got up onto the fringe about 20 feet away. My putt finished just short and I tapped in for birdie. And on the 6th hole I hit my drive into the rough. It was a perfect flyer lie though, 231 yards in. I hit another 4 iron that chased up just short off the green, about 10 yards from the whole. My chip clanked off the pin and went a foot right. Another close call.

 

It got me thinking about the last time I made an eagle. I was looking through the scorecards on my app/paper ones from my years of golfing. I've yet to make a 3 on a par 5. I never have made a hole in one, and no 2 on a par 4. I'm eagleless. It just seems strange.

 

You would think it would come along eventually at my skill level. Is this that uncommon or are there other guys without an eagle?

My theory? 

 

You are the unluckiest low handicap son of a gun on the planet.

 

It's just a theory...

[Phabs]

I’ve been around a +1 to a 2 for about 4 years now and I bet I average maybe 2-3 eagles a year is all.  They’re hard to come by, have to play the perfect hole and usually drop a bomb of a putt. 

[Dannyboy44]

it took me 10 years to get my first one then I had 2 in one wk. Crazy game.

[Santiago Golf]

If a golfer doesn't have length or avg at putting ... the odds are just not in their favor

 

Holing out from outside of 50 no matter the score is rare 

 

So you have to be able to drive par 4s and reach par 5s in two ... still make a good length putt normally

 

Some courses don't have drive-able par 4s or the par 5s don't encourage scoring 

 

It makes sense to me

[Roody]

I'm a 5 index. Over 26 years I've had nine eagles. Eight of them were on par 5's and one was on a par 4. I think your chances of making eagles depends on where the strengths in your game are, what types of courses you're playing, and the tee box lengths you choose to play on. 

 

For instance, I'm not really a "smash it and go for a lot of par 5's in two" kind of player. At least one of my eagles was flying it in from 80 yards out. Some of my others were on shorter par 5's that practically anyone who can piece two good shots together can hit in two. Only one of my eagles came on a longer par 5, and it was because I smoked Driver/3W, had some really nice assistance from the wind, and got lucky by draining a curving 30 footer. 

Edited June 11, 2021 by Roody

[MtlJeff]

On 6/10/2021 at 3:08 PM, Phabs said:

I’ve been around a +1 to a 2 for about 4 years now and I bet I average maybe 2-3 eagles a year is all.  They’re hard to come by, have to play the perfect hole and usually drop a bomb of a putt. 

 

That's about what i do in 70~ rounds and i am a 1.2 right now, and typically play to 0-0.5 in midsummer

 

I have 1 eagle so far this year in 20~ rounds

[Bonneville85308]

For me it was just luck. My first eagle (3 on a par 5) came back in the 1990s a few years after I started playing. I was pretty terrible back then, usually shooting around 105-110, but just happened to hit an 8-iron decent enough to roll it into the cup for my third shot on a par 5.

 

That being said, I've had the flip side of this luck. I've probably played in excess of 2,500 rounds in my life, the last 1,500 of those shooting in the 70s-low 80s, but have never had a hole in one. I've probably had 6 or 7 more eagles since that first one, all on par 4's, and all of which were in that most recent 1,500 rounds once my game got better. I've never had a double eagle, basically because I don't have the distance to get on par 5's in two 99% of the time.

 

 

[lefthack]

I'm not a long hitter, so it might be a while. I get a lot of birdie looks, but most par 5's I'm lucky to hit in 4.

[4x4GGG]

I agree that more careful players may have less chances just because they're avoiding the blow up. Also, the skill to luck ratio is a thing. Watched a 20Hcp drop a 8i on a par 4 out of sheer luck. 

 

For me: 

First Eagle.. par 5 S shaped hole. This was in the 90's when I first started playing. Sliced my drive so bad I actually had a look at the green from behind the trees guarding it. Nailed my Ping Persimmon 4w into the rough around the green. Took some time looking for it and when I found it I just grabbed a 9i and hit a bump that went in. Stranger I was playing with reminded me it was an eagle. 

HIO: A few years a little talent later, company league. #9, last hole, 135. I thought it went it right and didn't see it until it was rolling sideways across the green and drop. We were the last group and I had to buy the whole league beers. I remember having $10 in my pocket and $20 left on my debit card. 

Last Eagle: 500 yard par 5, but T box was under repair so it was moved up, 475. Hit a good drive for me, maybe 240. It was hot and dry that day and they had mowed the long grass in front of the green. Hit my low running 3H well, usually 200ish. It managed to run up onto the green. Walked up and it was 15 feet. Just one of those puts you see before you step over it. 

 

So it's been about 2 years for me. I'm losing distance as I age so my chances are getting smaller and smaller. But there's always luck. Last year I put a drive behind a tree and chipped out at 90*. Next shot was a full 4i from 205 that hit the flag and a tap in birdie. 

[North Butte]

The number of times I've been on a Par 5 green in two is in the single digits (maybe 7-8 times out of 3,000+ rounds?) and I think I may have once driven the green of a ridiculously short Par 4 (like under 250 yards) on a day the tees were up. And of those few putt-for-eagle chances the majority of them were 40, 50, 60 foot putts. 

 

So mostly my eagles have of necessity been hole outs from off the green. For whatever reason, those hole-outs have all been full swings and not chip-ins from around the greens. Probably because I don't chip the ball very well!

 

The closest I've ever been to the hole in two strokes on a Par 5 was just outside of 10 feet and I was lucky enough that my match-play opponent was putting for eagle on the same line from about a foot outside me.  If I had not seen his putt somehow quit breaking left about two feet from the hole and actually turn back the other way slightly, there is no way I'd have made it. I'd have read it the same as he did. I adjusted my read by about 6", caught the lip on the high side and dropped.

 

So the moral of that story is, for my game making an eagle with a putt is just off-the-charts unlikely. I only reach a Par 5 green once every couple of years. And when I do I'm almost never near the hole. And even then it isn't like I'm going to make all that many putts from 11-12 feet or whatever. 

 

I do have a knack for knocking in shots from 75 to about 120 yards. I've holed out from that range for an ace, one eagle on a Par 5, three eagles on Par 4's along with quite a few hole-outs for birdie or par after being in trouble off the tee. And when they don't go in, I still can hit it close with a wedge or 9-iron from time to time. For a high handicapper my good shots are really good, it's that my bad shots are really, really, really awful. 

[lefty1978]

Eagles are rare for me, maybe 1 or 2 per year, maybe. I'm not a long hitter so almost always outside of 200 on par 5s. I have a few from par 4 hole outs and never had a hole in one.

[tacklingdummy]

Eagles are great at the time, but are overrated. It is just one good hole. While they do help the score greatly, good clean rounds are more satisfying. 

[TheMagicStinger]

Because two putt birdies are the bees knees.

[phil75070]

On 6/9/2021 at 6:33 PM, phizzy30 said:

Hole in one, eagle, albatross can be had by any golfer provided they are lucky and have some golf skill.  For my first hole in one, I hit a thin 8 iron that hit the middle of the green skipped twice and rolled right into the hole.  Wasn't pure so I consider it a lucky shot. 

I would say just about all of those, HIO, eagle, albatross, are a combination of skill and luck.

[HackDaddy360]

I don’t know that’s it’s “unusual”, no. 
 

Making eagles comes from having a lot of legitimate looks at Eagle.  Law of large(r) numbers - it’s about giving yourself chances.  
 

You might jug one periodically from the fairway but is that really a legitimate Eagle attempt?  Not really.  
 

I’ve probably made a handful of Eagles this year - only one that’s memorable was a perfectly judged wedge from the fairway.  The others were putts or straightforward chip-ins. 

Under “normal” conditions with bounce and roll i can usually reach par 5s up to 560 yards at least assuming I have two clear shots/not a funky hole/etc.  That means for most par 5s the horsepower is there to get them.  This means I should get a lot of putts/chips at Eagle and if I’m competent around the greens I’ll make some - which is exactly what happened. 
 

Focus on giving yourself legitimate looks and you’ll make one - probably more than one!
 

 

 

 

[J2putts]

I'm a 5 index .....I've played for 6 years . I have ONE eagle .  I'm not long off the tee....260 , so I'm not on in 2 very often .  Hell ...I don't make a lot of birdies. My last 2 rounds i shot 77 and 76 and I had TWO birdies total.

[panthers985]

I’m 35 and I’ve played for 20

years.  I’ve always been fairly long off the tee and can reach most par 5s in two and drive short par 4s.  I’m a 5 handicap now and just got my first eagle this year on my home course.  It had been a long running joke with my buddies because they couldn’t believe I’d never eagled.  I think it just got in my head after a while and I got nervous every time I had a putt for eagle.  I once drove a par 4 to 3 feet and missed the putt.  Definitely can be a lot of luck but when the opportunity comes you have to think of it like any other birdie or par putt.

[llewol007]

Not necessarily. If you have a short enough par 5, you are still in the 200+ yardage left to the hole. It is impossible to stick it close but usually you are probably leaving yourself at least a 10foot putt. So based on percentages of putts made outside of 10 feet, that is why you dont have an eagle. And most times, us amateurs really never give the eagle a chance and leave it short. Weird how our mind works that way. 

[ZA206]

I think part of it has to do with mindset and partly to do with length.

In my 20's I was a long hitter but was HORRIBLE with wedges. On par 5's I knew I could get on/near the green in two on almost any par 5 I was ever going to see, so I always went for the green in 2. I didn't bother laying up b/c my wedge game was so bad. I used to get eagles all the time, probably one every 4-5 rounds.

 

These days, I'm still pretty long, but my wedge game is the strongest part of my game. There has to be almost no real trouble for me to go after a par 5 in 2 (or I have to have a 5i or less in). I know I can lay up to my preferred yardage/angle into a par 5 and then go flag hunting with a SW or LW.

 

So I make way less eagles now, but I make way less doubles and way more birdies. Also, I have semi frequent hole out eagles from the fairway now (2-3 a year), I never had any in my 20's.

 

-ZA

 

 

[minhjn]

I'm around a scratch and I maybe get one eagle a year?

 

I've also only holed out one time ever on a shot over 60 yards and don't yet have a hole in one in 15+ years of golf. I really don't chip in much at all for someone with a decent scrambling game.

 

As someone said earlier, a lot of it is luck

Edited June 14, 2021 by minhjn

[mark174ace]

I have holed out 5 times in my life. One hole in one, two birdies, and two pars. I am not a long hitter so reaching the green on par 5's generally just doesn't happen. I am a four handicap and have been playing for 30 years yet no eagles on a par 4. My only eagle came on a very short but very tight par 5 that I almost holed out for an albatross.

[jdl]

On 6/10/2021 at 11:54 AM, nikeblades00 said:

As others have said it really depends on your course and tees you play. At my home course one of our par 5s is truly a long par 4. 

Yeah, I'm usually around a 7 cap and have a bunch of eagles because I've played in leagues on a couple of courses that have very short par 5s. One is a fairly straight, 430 yard hole that is somehow a par 5 on the card. Another hole on the same course is only slightly longer but a hard dogleg right. Used to be some huge trees at the corner but then they either got knocked out in a storm or the course took them down, made it very easy to cut that corner. Another course has a "par 5" that bends around a pond, only about 390 yards in a direct line, so if you can hit a slight draw around the bend....well, I've hit 7 or 8 iron as my second shot there a number of times.

 

Still have to hit the shot and make the putt of course.

 

I've also got one on a par 3 and holed out a couple times on par 4s so having some luck doesn't hurt either. 😃

[dubbelbogey]

Apologies in advance for possibly changing the topic, but this has me wondering - among those who have steadily/consistently been in the low single digit index range (2-5?), how many have never broken par?

 

I know par is highly dependent on course/slope rating, but ignoring that, anybody?

 

I'm not talking about having a net differential of 0 or better, but actually breaking the scorecard par. It's sort of a mental milestone for many.

 

 

Edited June 16, 2021 by dubbelbogey

[Qqq123xx]

On 6/9/2021 at 7:50 PM, caniac6 said:

My first eagle was on a par 4.

Ditto. 

[Hairpie]

I can empathize...sorta...I've been playing 45 years including a 15 year stretch at scratch. I've made 9 birdies in a single round, more eagles than I can count, but am still searching for that eagle that shows up as a "1" on the score card. I've seen nearly all my friends do it, including one who did it in his 1st round on a golf course...with a RANGE ball. I feel your pain.

[Esox]

A lot of luck involved, with some shotmaking ability. I am a bogie golfer. I have had 5 hole in ones, two albatrosses, and in my younger days eagles weren't at all uncommon.  Had an eagle at the beginning of this year when I holed out a 7 iron from 155. Not quite the same as reaching a par 5 in two and one putt, but it's still an eagle.

[SterlingArcher]

I’m playing to a 5.4 now, never had an eagle and its very frustrating.  I’ve posted about this before I think, but I’m 35 and have always been a shorter driver of the ball (230-240ish generally off the tee).  The par 5’s on my course have uphill shots into the greens so second shots of mine never reach the green.  I’ve hit pins, lipped out on pitches, for whatever reason it never drops for me.