MY FIRST PAR-4 EAGLE
By Pengfei Liu, June 7, 2007
Since my first hole-in-one on the Osprey Course of Clovelly Golf Club, St. John’s, Newfoundland Canada, on May 7, 2005, I have longed for an eagle rather than hole in one. This finally and surprisingly happened today! Here is the story:
Knowing today would be a nice day (few clouds at 15-25 degrees), wife Lihua and I got up at 6:30 am and drove our own cars to the golf course, our home club, Bally Haly Golf and Curling Club. I arrived about 5 minutes earlier waiting her in the club. It took about 5 minutes of drive and 5 minute of preparation; we teed off at 6:40 am at the #1 hole.
Hole #1 Par 4: I had a green in regulation (GIR), with a long put of about 50 feet. I had a very short first putt and ended up with a 3-putt; a pity, a bogey.
Hole #2 Par 5: I had a poor tee shot with about 200 yards. My second shot was good by a 2-hybrid iron for about 220 yards. My 3rd shot was a 60-yard approaching shot by a sand wedge but I hit it fat and about 20-yard short of the pin. The 4th shot was an easy chipping shot but I did it poorly and got the ball about 10 feet away from the hole. It took me 2 putts; another bogey.
Hole #3, a short Par 4: The tee shot was really poor by my 2-hybrid iron and the ball went into the lateral hazard. The 2nd shot was not a wise one and it ended up with a worse lie and made me a 5-on with two putts. A triple bogey!!!
Hole #4, a short Par 4 of about 300 yards: The green is about 50-feet high uphill with about a 90 degree dog-leg to the left. The green is behind 40-feet high woods with dense trees on the left hand side of the fairway. The tee shot was a solid one by a 2-hybrid iron hit about 200 yards landed at about 40-feet-high plateau. However, the ball was on the left hand side of the fairway, with the trees between the ball and the green, about 95 yards away from the pin. The trees in the woods are high but as the ball is about 20 yards away from the woods, using an approaching wedge (my A-wedge is about 100 yards) should get the ball high enough to get over the trees to reach the green. Through the tree trunks, I could see part of the pin on the green. I pulled off my Ping G5 utility wedge (the U-wedge) out of my golf bag and aligned it with the ball, a set of grass in front of it, as intermediate target to the pin. The pin was with a white flag on, which means it was in the middle of the green. After I made two practice swings and then hit the ball in hoping the ball could get on the green. It was about 7:10 am. The ball went over the trees and seemed to land on the green. Once we went on the green, Lihua’s guess was that the ball hit the green and went through. However, we could not find the all behind the green. I then try to find the ball mark on the green. The ball mark was a clear one and it is about 6 feet away from the pin. The ball hit by my utility wedge usually does not give a forward roll, even if I hit a low shot, the ball would not roll too much to go through the green. Is the ball in the hole? I went to see at the pin; yes! The ball was already in the hole! This is an eagle. Wow, I finally had an eagle in addition to the hole-in-one on a par 3. That’s was an unforgettable moment; both Lihua and I had a good bit of cheers for a while.
Hole #5, par 3, 175 yards. As the air was dense and humid in the early morning and the green is relative uphill, it would need about 175 yards of carry. I used a 4-rion hit the ball on the green, rolled about a 3 feet and stayed about 5 feet away from the pin. I made the putt and had a birdie on that hole.
Hole #6, part 4, 408 yards. A good tee shot of about 260 yards. I than used a 7-iron and put the ball on the green. Two putts made a par.
My scores on the holes 4, 5 and 6 were eagle, birdie and par, an interesting combination. The score was:
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 35 |
| Score | +1 | +1 | +3 | -2 | -1 | 0 | +1 | +1 | 0 | +4=39 |
| Hole | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | |
| Par | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 35 |
| Score | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +9=44 |
The ball used in the round was: Titleist Pro V1, no. 4.
The next eagle, I am waiting for, would be an eagle on a par 5. I have been able to get the ball on green within two shots but I never made the putt.
Written on June 7, 2007 in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.