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

Fri Apr 18 16:46:35 UTC 2014

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

_Boston Herald_ 8/5/1929 p 18 col 6
"George Thorpe, professional at the Homestead Golf Club in Danvers,
while playing a round yesterday afternoon, holed out his second shot on
the 550-yard ninth for an albatross, or three strokes under par."

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of ADSGarson O'Toole
> Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2014 4:48 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Word: albatross, n. three under par on a hole in golf
> (probably 1924)
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
---------------
> --------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Word: albatross, n. three under par on a hole in golf
> (probably
>               1924)
>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> 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

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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