The rarest birdie in golf: Learning a little about the mythical Condor

Most people, certainly all golfers, are fully aware of the different terms used for scoring the game.

We’ve all had our fair share of bogeys, double bogeys and even treble bogey holes and on the positive side, we’ve hit par, a few birdies and perhaps we’ve also been fortunate enough to land an eagle or two.

It is very rare indeed that we see someone hit an Albatross, or double-eagle as it is mathematically inaccurately called, just as Louis Oosthuizen famously did at the Masters in 2012 (below), so these rare events should be celebrated.

But even this incredible three-under-par shot is not the rarest of birds in golf…

Of course it is theoretically possible for someone to score a hole-in-one on a par five hole. There is a name for such a feat and it follows the feathered theme as a four-under par golf shot (such as a hole in one on a par five, or a two on a par six) is called a Condor.

As far as can be reliably ascertained, a Condor is certainly the rarest score in the history of golf. Nobody has ever scored a condor in professional play and to date, there have only been four reliably recorded hole-in-ones on a par five thus far.

Nobody has ever scored a two on a par six.

The first Condor that can be reliably confirmed came in 1962, when American Larry Bruce drove the ball over a cluster of trees, cutting off the dog-leg at the fifth hole at Hope Country Club in Arkansas, USA.

Taking that route shortened the hole considerably and allowed his ball to bounce onto the green and into the hole for what was the first documented Condor on record.

The second Condor confirmed came over 30 years later when Shaun Lynch followed a similar plan of action at the 494-yard 17th hole at Teign Valley Golf Club in Christow, England.

Once again, the player cut the dogleg out of the equation, aiming straight at the green over a large hedge and receiving a kind bounce from a downslope, allowing his shot to bounce down onto the green and into the hole.

Since the course was redesigned, the 17th is now the 8th hole on the course and it is shown below.

The youngest and most recent member of the club was 17 year old Jack Bartlett who played the 18th hole at Royal Wentworth Falls in New South Wales, Australia in November 2007.  Again, he followed the same route cutting the corner of the dogleg with his shot reducing the distance considerably.

Perhaps though the most incredible Condor on record came in July 2002, when Mike Crean, played the 517 yard 9th hole at the Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in Denver Colorado. Unlike any of the other three players to have hit a Condor, Crean did not cut a corner, instead using his immense power from the tee, and the thin air at altitude, to propel his shot an incredible 517 yards onto the green and into the hole.

This shot is officially the longest hole in one ever recorded and is the only Condor to have been achieved without cutting the corner on a dogleg par five.

And for those interested, there is a name for a hole in one on a par six hole, though this has never happened and that is an Ostrich.  Which is a pity, as I’d have enjoyed this being a Rod Hull and Emu instead.

How long that record will last remains to be seen, especially if people continue to play this ‘Extreme 19th’ golf hole in Limpopo, South Africa.

Images courtesy of Wikipedia (CCL), Teign Valley Golf Course, Nike Golf