Golf uses a lot of lingo, where if you weren’t familiar with the sport, you would have no idea what any of it meant. To make golf more confusing for beginners, the way the game is scored doesn’t use a straight number system that is easy to follow. You may have heard terms like scoring a birdie or an eagle. Other than being a feathery friend, what is an eagle in golf? Here’s what an eagle means and what it does for your score.
What an eagle in golf is
The term eagle is a part of scoring dealing with how many strokes it takes at a hole. To score an eagle, a player has to make a hole in two fewer swings than the par for the hole requires. And, yes, you could hit an eagle at each hole.
What par means
If you don’t understand par, you won’t get what scoring an eagle means. Par is the number of strokes each hole takes. It’s a predetermined number set by professionals, showing how many swings it should take each player at every hole.
If a hole is par 3, you should sink the ball in three shots. If the hole is par 5, five swings should do it. Most holes are par 3, par 4, or par 5, with a mix of them throughout the course.
How to score an eagle
If a hole is par 4, and you finish it in two swings, you hit an eagle. If it’s par 5, three strokes gets you an eagle. Pretty simple once you do the math. Whatever the par, finishing with two fewer swings lands you an eagle.
Why it is called an eagle
Finishing one swing less than par is called a birdie. Yes, golf likes using winged creatures for keeping score. But in the early 20th century, calling something a “bird” was a good thing, an old slang word for something excellent. They just continued the bird theme.
Abner “Ab” Smith called a swing “a bird of a shot,” and it stuck. Ab’s golfing group called getting two under par an eagle. This was considered an American term in golf until around 1919, when it made its way to Britain.
How easy is it to get an eagle in golf?
Landing a birdie is hard work. No player has yet to score a birdie at all 18 holes in any professional tournament. That said, getting an eagle is even more rare. As in, if you ever, ever hit an eagle, brag about it until your last breath. Have it engraved on your headstone.
To put into perspective with the pros, Justin Thomas has the most eagles ever in a golf career, with 127 eagles across the 822 rounds of professional golf he’s played. Rory McIlroy has managed to hit 106 eagles during 756 rounds.
When you step up to the tee, you’ll have something to work toward during your weekly golfing outing. Hit two under par, and you’ll have a story to tell everywhere you go for the rest of your life. Just because it’s hard to hit an eagle doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Maybe work on nailing a birdie first.
