Thanks to everyone who added some great stories to the fun. I’d like to try and do similar giveaways in the future, so to everyone that didn’t win, hang in there and try again next time.

And now, without further ado, the winner is…

…

…

Tony.

Oh, the irony. My brother won with his story about beating me to my first eagle.

Now the question is: do I still need to get him a Christmas gift?

P.S. – My mother has already accused me of rigging the contest. I promise you, I’d never do that.

He did the same thing to me for birdie this year. It was a par four and I had about 6 feet for birdie and he was on the approach, maybe 30 yards from the pin and pitched it in. I can’t even remember if I made my putt.

All of us are pretty decent players ranging from scratch to mid-single digit indexes at the time. However on the par 5 15th I hit a within 10 feet of the pin in two and made the eagle putt.

Coming onto the front nine on another par 5, the eldest of our group (he was at least twice the of the others in the group) holed out a wedge to a pin tucked behind water and a bunker.

Two holes later, on a par 3, another group member two hopped a 4 iron for an ace. This was the first and only ace I have ever witnessed.

Thinking back I remember their shots more vividly than mine. Probably because, to me, holing out a shot for eagle is more spectacular than putting for one. Sorry DE.

I worked maintenance for like four years and I think I became immune to incoming balls. Now, I have real trouble hitting when the maintenance people are working. It’s funny because I never thought twice about it then, but it bothers me to be on the other end now.

I hit a great shot last summer that definitely counts as a memorable golf moment. I was teeing off at my local muni while a staff member was mowing the fairway. He saw me on the tee and waved at me to go ahead. I’m sure you can see where this is going. He was about 260 out, sitting in the center of the fairway (seemingly in the safest spot on the course), and sure enough I tagged it right on the screws and hit the mower. The memorable part was the expression on his face as we exchanged apologies. He said he sits there all the time and considered himself well out of danger (visualize my chest puffing out). Even better, there were witnesses standing on a nearby green that had similar looks on their faces and made some comments at the turn. Good thing they didn’t have a video camera going, or else my ego might have exploded out of control. Needless to say, these are the shots that keep you coming back.

And I see that my own brother put his hat in the ring.

That was a great story, though. One of my own runner-up classics.

I got on a short par four green in one with a 3-iron from about 220, dog leg left, over a green-side pond and really tall trees all up the left.

I hit a high draw to about one foot, for what would have been my first eagle. My brother played a short iron out to the bend and left himself about 60 yards. He promptly drained it for his first eagle, beating me to the milestone.

He doesn’t let me forget that.