Word: albatross, n. three under par on a hole in golf (probably 1924)

Wed Apr 16 21:47:35 UTC 2014

Benjamin Torbert mentioned the interesting golf term: albatross.

The OED has a recently updated entry for albatross with a July 2, 1932
cite for the golf sense.

[Begin OED excerpt]
albatross, n.
4. Golf. A score of three strokes under par on a hole; a hole played
in three strokes under par. Cf. eagle n. 1d.In North America, such a
shot is more usually known as a double eagle (see Additions).

1932   Boston Globe 2 July 11/5   1932 Boston Globe 2 July 11/5 James
Shepard, a Boston boy..startled himself as well as everybody else by
holing a long mashie shot for an albatross deuce at the long 16th.
[End OED excerpt]

HathiTrust has a golf book that the catalogers have been unable to
precisely date. The year is listed as "1924?". This book included an
instance of "albatross". Evidence that the 1924 date of publication
was accurate appeared in a 1924 Buffalo, New York newspaper; see
further below.

Year: 1924? (question mark to indicate uncertainty)
Book title: Lessons from Great Golfers
Author: R. Endersby Howard.
Publisher: Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York
Database: HathiTrust

http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.$b281582
http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.$b281582?urlappend=%3Bseq=106

[Begin excerpt]
It is perhaps evidence of further exaltation in the American player's
ambition that a new term is now coming into use.
He has to allow for the almost unthinkable contingency
of accomplishing a hole in three strokes under par—
a five hole in two. At least, I had a letter from a
friend in Chicago not long ago saying that he had just
performed such a prodigy by holing a full woodenclub
shot, and that it was known as an " albatross"-
the rarest thing in the golfing aviary.
[End excerpt]

The book "Lessons from Great Golfers" by Endersby was acquired by a
library in 1924.

[ref] 1924 August 17, Buffalo Express, Books Recently Acquired by the
Buffalo Public Library, Quote Page 2, Column 4, Buffalo, New York.
(Old Fulton)[/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
Books Recently Acquired by the Buffalo Public Library
...
Howard, R. Endersby — Lessons from Great Golfers.
[End excerpt]

Below is an instance one day before the OED cite in 1932.

[ref] 1932 July 1, Lowell Sun, Grasse Over takes Farrell for City
Title, Quote Page 12, Column 3 and 4, Lowell, Massachusetts.
(NewspaperArchive)

[Begin except]
The thrill of the day was Grasse's
extraordinary play of the llth, in
which he scored an eagle three. He
barely missed an albatross on the par
5 hole of 532 yards.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Wed, Apr 16, 2014 at 3:21 PM, Benjamin Torbert <btorbert at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Torbert <btorbert at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Antedating of "Eagle" (Golf)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> When I was a kid, people would refer to double eagle as 'albatross.'
> They're extremely rare, occurring mostly on short par fives, or
> occasionally on now-driveable par fours, and there have been about four of
> them at Augusta.  I never hear that anymore, only 'double eagle.'  Double
> eagle doesn't make any sense given what we do with holes played over par;
> double bogey is twice as many strokes over par as bogey. Double eagle isn't
> double the number of strokes under par that an eagle is; it's one more.
>
> Benjamin Torbert
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 16, 2014 at 2:15 PM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: Antedating of "Eagle" (Golf)
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Yes, Barry as usual has done a great job on this.
>>
>> A general comment:  I have long been interested in the terms "eagle,"
>> "birdie," "par," "bogey," etc.  In particular, it is interesting that some
>> of these terms have completely altered their meaning over time.
>>
>> Fred Shapiro
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________________
>> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of
>> ADSGarson O'Toole [adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM]
>> Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2014 3:00 PM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: Re: Antedating of "Eagle" (Golf)
>>
>> Dan Goncharoff wrote:
>> > Great finds, Garson!
>> >
>> > You have simultaneously confirmed the Atlantic City Country Club as the
>> > source of Eagle and predated their own history of it by 13 years.
>>
>> Thanks, Dan. The information is intriguing. However, it should be
>> emphasized that credit properly belongs to Barry Popik. He located the
>> cites in January 1909, February 1909, and 1921 that were relayed to
>> the ADS list in my previous message.
>> Garson
>>
>> > On Wed, Apr 16, 2014 at 10:14 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
>> > adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> >> -----------------------
>> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> >> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>> >> Subject:      Re: Antedating of "Eagle" (Golf)
>> >>
>> >>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
>> > ------
>> >>
>> >> Barry Popik shrewdly looked for the golf "eagle" in the excellent
>> >> archive of sports publications at LA84.org and found earlier evidence
>> >> which off-list he kindly shared. Garson
>> >>
>> >> Replying to Queries
>> >> American Golfer, 1921, Vol. 24, Iss. 2, pgs. 22.
>> >> ... Will you be good enough to en- lighten me on the meanings of the
>> >> following: "Birdie," "Eagle," "Dormie" and '"Nassau"? B EGINNER . ...
>> >> library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/AmericanGolfer/1921/ag242t.pdf
>> >> ...
>> >> [PDF] Around Philadelphia
>> >> The American Golfer, by Hazard. 1909 January Vol. 1 No. 3 p. 124-128.
>> >> ... Sometime after the hatching of the Birdie another fea- thered
>> >> feature was given to golf=E2=80=94the Eagle, which soars even higher
>> than=
>> >  the
>> >> Birdie and is ...
>> >> library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/AmericanGolfer/1909/ag13j.pdf
>> >> ...
>> >> PDF] Around Philadelphia
>> >> The American Golfer, by Hazard. 1909 February Vol. 1 No. 4 p. 196-200.
>> >> ... At this critical point the doctor won the championship with an
>> >> "Eagle"=E2=80=94a wonderful 3=E2=80=94although a "Bird" would have
>> suffic=
>> > ed. ...
>> >> library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/AmericanGolfer/1909/ag14k.pdf
>> >>
>> >> On Wed, Apr 16, 2014 at 12:05 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole
>> >> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> > Fred Shapiro:
>> >> >> eagle (OED, 1.d., 1922)
>> >> >>
>> >> >> 1913 _L.A. Times_ 6 Feb. (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)  He made
>> the
>> >> long=3D
>> >> >>  hole, No. 6 -- 629 yards -- in 4 (an "eagle," messieurs).
>> >> >
>> >> > Excellent work, Fred. Here is an instance of the golf "eagle" a few
>> >> > months earlier.
>> >> >
>> >> > Newspaper: Chester Times
>> >> > Date: September 14, 1912,
>> >> > Newspaper Location: Chester, Pennsylvania
>> >> > Article: James Victor In Springhaven Golf
>> >> > Page: 1
>> >> > Column: 4
>> >> > Database: NewspaperArchive
>> >> >
>> >> > [Begin excerpt]
>> >> > On the out journey he
>> >> > was two above par, but he played
>> >> > the fourth, fifth, eighth, and ninth
>> >> > holes in par, and had an "eagle" on
>> >> > the seventh. This is a par five-hole
>> >> > and he played it in three strokes.
>> >> > [End excerpt]
>> >> >
>> >> > Garson
>> >>
>> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> >>
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org