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