The 2024 season has gotten off to a hot start with BMC members landing eagles as if Braemar were some kind of raptor center.
In league play on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, as well as in Four Ball, BMC members have been absolutely victimizing par 5s. And just in case you’re curious which hole is the BMC’s favorite for making eagles? No question, it’s Braemar’s eighth (which may explain why it’s our 18th handicap hole).
As last reported, the 2024 BMC Eagles Club had inducted nine members: Greg Hasper, Tom Klassen, Drew Cripps, Jayme Nelson, Paul Conley, Timothy Boys, Timothy Clark, Wayne Voland and yours truly (with two). All in Thursday League play.
Now The Virtual 19th Hole is pleased, thanks in large part to statistics compiled by Golf Genius, to announce the induction of an additional eight members:
From the E Tees: Mike Wangen, with two, Tim Smith, Alex Haima and David Matlock, all in Wednesday League play, and, in Tuesday League play, Chris Peterson.
Also, in Tuesday League play (for which Golf Genius doesn’t report tee boxes): David Durham, Owen Knezel and Thaddeus Smith.
Congrats to each of our 2024 eagle shooters!
As noted, The Virtual 19th Hole has been able to identify most of these eagles solely through statistics reported by Golf Genius. But these stats are simply the bare bones– meaning that the details of the stories remain to be told. So, if you’re in the know, reach out and help The Virtual 19th Hole to tell these stories.
In the meanwhile, here are two eagle stories you’re bound to like:
Tim’s Eagle
For those of you who don’t know him, Tim Smith is the reigning (and a former) Senior Club Champion, he’s a former BMC board member and former Board Secretary, he’s the current league coordinator for Best Weekly, and he’s last year’s pick by The Virtual 19th Hole to be the 2023 BMC Champion Golfer of the Year. And Tim’s eagle story is another one that takes wing on the eighth hole.
Go back to May 8, opening night for 2024 Wednesday League play. Tim stood on the eighth tee box one down in his nine-hole match. His opponent, Cutter Tylia, one of the BMC’s foremost golfers, sported a plus 1 handicap at the time (for anyone not in the know, the plus handicap meant that, for Cutter to score a par on number 8, for example, he’d need to make a birdie)! So, with the match very much resting on number 8, Tim launched a nice drive down the left side of the fairway; then, with a light crossing wind from the right, Tim scorched a utility wood to within 20 yards of the green. Choosing his 54-degree wedge for the pitch shot, Tim’s touch was perfect and he holed out for a three. With Cutter needing to make an albatross to tie, Tim, of course, won the hole. And when both players parred number 9, the match wound up all square, with the overall team score also a tie, 3-3.
Chris’s Eagle
Chris Peterson is also a former BMC board member and former Board Secretary. And Chris is yet another BMC member who has flourished on the eighth hole.
On April 30, in the Tuesday League season opener, Chris, not unlike Tim in Wednesday League play the following week, was able to prevail in his nine-hole match thanks in no small part to number eight. Playing from the E Tees, he hit a bomb down the left side that narrowly avoided the virtually unplayable natural area left of the fairway. From there, 220 yards out, Chris pulled out his 3 hybrid and hit a baby draw to within five feet of the hole. He lined up the putt and struck it solidly– but couldn’t avoid some breath-catching drama as the ball started breaking at the hole. Not until it did a 270-degree turn around the horn did the ball finally fall in. Chris went on to win the match and he and his partner took home a victory, 5-1.
Aftermath
All of this unavoidably leads to several interesting questions. Because now that BMC members have proven that eagles are so easy to come by, shouldn’t we track some more granular details?
Like, for example, can anyone sink an eagle putt where the ball curls more than 270 degrees around the hole before going in?
Or, can anyone sink an eagle third shot from more than 30 yards away (the current record being held by first year member Jayme Nelson, who was just able to beat out Tim Smith’s 20-yarder)?
Or, can anyone be left with an eagle putt shorter than 18 inches (the current record being held by yours truly)?
Stay tuned…
Dick Helde
Editor, The Virtual 19th Hole
helde.richard@gmail.com
612-306-3590