Eagle ball thief
 

Was playing Briarwood yesterday afternoon and on number 6 I hit two tee shots, first one went into trap in front of green, second one went on the green. Driving up to the green I noticed a large bird in the sand trap. Drove and parked on path behind the green.

Walked onto the green and the large bird (Eagle I think) was now on fringe of green above sand trap. Looked in trap for ball, not there. Walked a little closer to the Eagle and he's got my ball in his talon. I said "hey thanks for getting me out of trap, can I have my ball bacK?" Nope, he flies with ball about 50 feet away.. SO I think, I gotta take a photo of this, went to cart, got cell phone, and walked slowly over to the bird. This time he takes off without my ball and lands in a nearby tree where I finally took a pic. Too bad I couldn't get one with the ball in his talons, I think this Eagle was a juvenile as he did not have the white head yet, but it was pretty large, maybe 3 feet when standing on the ground.

another photo

Is this how you get a (ready for it) Birdie??? :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

:BigApplause: Nice story and pics. Would have loved to seen this in person.

Side note: No more mulligans for me... recently holed one on a par 3. Walked over to cart and wrote a down a 3. Felt sick all day.:cryin2:

It was amazing, the bird let me approach to 15 feet the first time and he was totally calm, not afraid of me at all. I didn't go closer as his talons were the size of my hands, size xl golf glove. Looked to me like he really wanted my brand new Chrome Soft!

Had a large bird try to take my ball out of a sand trap last week. It tried to take it but dropped it about five feet from where it landed. Sadly still in the trap

Your a funny guy. :bowdown:

That was bad. (but funny)

If I had just one tee shot and that eagle picked up my ball in the sand and then accidentally dropped it in the hole I would have argued that I had both a sandy and a hole in one...Naw just dreaming

There were 2 young eagles in the neighborhood.

Probably thought it was egg that the crows stole.

There have been a mating pair of Bald Eagles nesting in the power tower that is at top of Hill between Briarwood 7&8 for last 3 years. This year they have two offspring that are about to be off on their own. This one must be planning to spend summer near a northern golf course.

He was ball hawking.

Yep. It's a juvee.

hilarious story, what is the rule if that happened in a tournament do you get to place the ball back where it was? what if the eagle dropped it into the hole for you lol

Wouldn't matter because he shouldn't have been hitting a second tee shot in the first place. Karma...