The 'Condor' - four under par for a hole

Scoring a condor is the rarest event in golf. This is normally a hole in one at a par five (a two at a par six would also count, but this has never been done).

Only four condors have ever been recorded:

The first occurred in 1962, when Larry Bruce drove into the hole over a stand of trees on the 480-yard dogleg right par-5 fifth hole at Hope Country Club in Arkansas, USA.

Another condor was achieved by "cutting the corner" of a dogleg par-5 by Shaun Lynch at Teign Valley Golf Club in Christow, England, in 1995, on the 496-yard 17th. Lynch aimed straight at the green with a 3-iron, clearing a 20-foot-high hedge and hitting a downslope on the other side, which allowed his ball to roll down to the green and into the hole.

A condor was scored without cutting over a dogleg by Mike Crean at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in Denver, Colorado, in 2002, when he holed his drive at the 517 yard par-5 9th. This is longest hole in one on record, although it was of course aided by the altitude and thin air of 'mile-high' Denver.

The most recent condor was achieved in Australia by 16 year old Jack Bartlett on the 467 metre par-5 17th at Royal Wentworth Falls Country Club, NSW, Australia, on November 3, 2007.

A condor is also known as a triple-eagle or a double-albatross, although these terms are, of course, mathematically incorrect.

There is no other explanation for the name 'condor' apart from its continuation of the 'bird' theme in naming under-par scores, and the size of the bird becoming bigger as the score gets lower (birdie - eagle - albatross - condor).

October 2008