In the afternoon of April 7, 1935, the Squire, Gene Sarazen, accompanied by his Caddie, “Stovepipe”, came to the par-5, 485 yard, 15th tee at Augusta National Golf Club. He was trailing Craig Wood, who was finished with his final round and waiting in the clubhouse with a score of 282, by 3 strokes.  Gene was playing with Walter Hagen who shot 297 for the tournament.

          Gene’s drive off the tee went 250 yards and found the fairway. He had 235 yards to go to the pin on the green. There is a pond that separates the fairway from the green that crosses directly in front making a “run up” to the pin impossible. After talking with Stovepipe, Gene selected his 4-wood for the extra loft it delivers for his second drive from the fairway.

           He swung the 4-wood and stuck a low line drive that delivered a shot that peaked 30 yards in the air. It was long enough to carry the pond guarding the green… bounced once and rolled to the cup… then gently hit the pin and fell in.

          Gene Sarazen had scored a “double eagle” duce, three under par, to tie Craig Wood who waited in the Clubhouse… Sportwriter, Grantland Rice, called it “the shot heard 'round the world”. The second double eagle recorded during tournament play. Approximately 20 people witnessed the feat. One of them was Augusta National's founder, Bobby Jones.

          Gene played Craig in a 36 hole playoff the next day and beat Wood by a score of 71-72-144 to 75-74-149 to win the Second Masters Tournament.  It was the only 36 hole playoff in the history of the Masters.

          On April 6, 1955, the Augusta National Golf Club dedicated “Sarazen’s Bridge” just off to the left of the 15th green in honor of Genes double eagle in 1935.

          The Squire’s was not the only double eagle scored in the 1930s. In fact, one year earlier in 1934, Byron Nelson scored his during casual play. “Lord Byron” once recalled, “I’ve had one double eagle, and I remember it well. It was the 16th hole at the Texarkana Country Club, the last year I was the pro there. I was playing with Mrs. Farr, whose husband was president of the club. The hole was 575 yards downwind with no watered fairways. I hit it well, and I thought I’d get close to the green. The ball went out of sight in a little swale in front of the green, but then we saw it run onto the green and in the hole”. Byron Nelson had eight aces and one double eagle during his career.

           Byron too has a bridge in his honor at Augusta National Golf Club. “The Nelson Bridge” at the 13th tee was dedicated on April 2, 1958 to commemorate his spectacular play on holes 12 and 13, two of the three holes know as “Amen Corner”. He scored 2 – 3 to pick up six strokes on Ralph Guldahl and won the 1937 Masters Tournament.

           There was one more “albatross”, the name used in Europe for a double eagle, scored in the 1930's.  On June 26, 1939, a young man playing 18 holes at Erskine Park Golf Course, in South Bend, Indiana, scored a double eagle and a hole-in-one during the same round of golf.  His hole-in-one was on the par-3, 149 yard 6th hole and his double eagle came on the par-5, 505 yard, 16th hole.  He was good enough to play with the best of them.  He chose to become an educator and a coach. The world knows him as Coach John R. Wooden of UCLA Championship basketball fame.  Coach Wooden made an ace and tossed in a double eagle for good measure! The Golden Bear
           Jack Nicklaus, need anyone say more? When Jack was a young man, in his teen’s, in the early 1950’s, he scored the first of his three double eagles. It was during casual play at his home golf course, the Scioto Country Club, on the 516 yard, par-5, 8th hole. Jack used a driver and 3-wood to “bag his bird”. He said, “at the time the 8th did not have the water in the front and you could run it up there… otherwise, I probably would not or could not have reached it”.

           Jack’s first professional double eagle was actually in the 1966 Greater Jacksonville Open at Selva Marina Country Club. It came in the fourth round on the 492 yard, par-5, 18th hole. He used his driver off the tee and his 4-iron from 208 yards. It was a high shot that landed 15 feet in front of the pin… hopped once… then the ball ran up to the hole and dropped in. A bronze plaque has been placed at the spot where Jack hit his 4-iron. The Greater Jacksonville Open is now known as the Players Championship.

           Jack’s third “albatross” came during The Tradition, one of the Majors on the Champions Tour. It was scored at the Desert Mountain Golf Club, Cochise Course, in Scottsdale, Arizona on April 7, 1996, exactly 61 years after fellow Club member Gene Sarazen scored his. It happened during the third round on the 500 yard, par-5, 12th hole. He drove the ball 351 yards off the tee. From 159 yards out he hit his 8-iron. Jack had scored his third and final double eagle to go on to win his 100th professional title. Of the accomplishment Jack simply said, “pretty good aim”. A commemorative plaque has been placed on the side of the fairway where Jack hit his famous 8-iron shot.

           He then went to the Ralph W. Miller Golf Library and Museum, located at the Sheraton Hotel, in the City of Industry, CA, every Saturday morning for several weeks in a row. There he found spotty information about golfers who had scored double eagle’s during tournament play. The lovely staff, the “Widows of Golfers”, that volunteer their service to the library, were most helpful for they directed Michael to Ms. Jane LaMarsche, Golf Historian for Golf World and Golf Digest magazines.

Ms. Jane, a Southern Belle from North Carolina, was very insightful and aided Michael in his research work. He has often said, “I will ever be in her debt… what a jewel she was to me. I miss her”! Jane contracted cancer and lost her valiant battle leaving behind many friends and her dear mother.

           Because of her association with the golf magazines Jane referred Michael to Ms. Topsy Siderowf, Associate Editor of Golf Digest magazine. After a very educational phone conversation with Topsy he began contacting the “Tours” of the world.

From initial contacts with the Tours of the world Michael began to receive letters and faxes with the requested information regarding the players, their double eagles or albatrosses and the limited stats surrounding them.

           He then started the “up hill and against the wind” journey of contacting the players via their agents, tours or direct contact through the mail… an experience he said he will never forget! After the contacting and verifying process had finished for the first group of golfers who had scored a double eagle during tournament play and securing the necessary copyrights, Michael organized and formed The Double Eagle Club on March 1, 1997 with 57 members. Today there are 674 members… and counting.  Stay tuned!