For a few moments in Massachusetts last September, the rarest of birds in golf wasn't very rare at all.
That's because a pair of college teammates pulled off the unthinkable during a practice round. We'd say they pulled off the impossible, but apparently it is actually possible for two golfers to make an albatross on the same hole. On the same day. While playing in the same group.
This sorcery took place at Blackstone National in Sutton, Mass., and involved two Holy Cross men's golfers, Christian Emmerich and Owen Egan. Emmerich, a senior, went first and holed an 8-iron from 180 yards for a deuce on the 494-yard, par-5 eighth hole.
"We all went crazy, including our coach and the third member of our group, Matt Williams," Emmerich wrote in a DM to amateurgolf.com.
But the craziness was just getting started. After a mammoth drive left Egan with just 120 yards for his approach on the dogleg-right hole, the sophomore holed out a gap wedge(!) for his own albatross.
"We saw it disappear and I threw my bag in the air and we all ran around high-fiving and going insane," Emmerich added.
That's six under par for two players on one hole. Incredible. Holy Cross men's golf coach Steve Napoli confirmed to Golf Digest that he witnessed the back-to-back hole-outs from the fairway.
The odds of making one albatross, also called a double eagle by some, varies based on skill level. Needless to say, it's a very rare occurrence. In fact, there were only four made on the PGA Tour during the entire 2021-2022 season.
And yet it took two Crusaders just two shots to reach half that total. Holy Cross' season may not officially start until Saturday, but it's already shaping up to be a special one.
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