Smith's escapades on the fifth hole in Carlow

“Yeah. Striking the ball well.” 

This was the reaction of Michael Smith as he reflected on his achievement, where he had a birdie, an eagle and an albatross on the same par five fifth in Carlow Golf Club over four days.

It all started for him on Sunday, a 13-hole singles competition, when the 8 handicapper found the middle of the fifth green with his third shot.

“Just missed the eagle, but it was a tap-in birdie,” he recalled. He finished the competition with 28 points but was still seven shots behind the winner, who amassed an impressive 35 points.

“It is hard to get near that,” noted the history maker in waiting, who was accompanied by Bernard Jennings and John Kelly, who witnessed the birdie.

And so on Monday, Michael set off this time, accompanied by Teddy Ffrench, Fran Bolger and Jimmy Kelly, who are all decent ball strikers themselves.

Again, on the par five fifth, his tee shot was long and straight. He hit a five iron, and the ball finished less than a foot from the hole for a tap-in eagle.

“It was good. I had struck it well,” conceded Smith.

He carded 21 points for the nine holes and thought no more about it. He was brought back down to earth the following day, where he bogeyed the fifth hole.

For the fourth day in a row, he was back on the course, accompanied by the same three players who had witnessed his eagle two days earlier.

He opened up with two birdies, a “bad putt” bogey on the third and atoned with a par on the fourth. Then came the moment after his drive from the fifth tee was perfect. He set himself up with a seven-iron approach to the green.

“I creamed it. I couldn’t have hit it any better to be honest with you.” 

From where he was, the four golfers were unable to see the green. When they got up over the hill, there were only two balls visible which turned out to be Jimmy and Teddy’s. Now Smith was doubting himself.

“I said, did I catch it too hard, and it is gone through?” 

“Fran said, look in the hole. When it got up there, it was,” said Smith, who was recording his first-ever albatross.

Teddy took a picture of a jubilant but calm golfer.

Unfazed, Michael went on to par the sixth and seventh holes. A double bogey on the eighth threatened to halt his momentum, but he put that behind him when parred the ninth to record two over par for the nine holes.

Smith regularly sets goals for himself. His best round ever was a 76 gross in Beaufort in Kerry. He has recorded a 77 gross in Carlow.

“I set myself a target every year. Eagles were last year and I eagled the 18th a couple of times. This year, my target is a hole-in-one and to get down to five. My whole game is to keep the handicap down,” says the golfer who has a rich Dublin accent which he has never lost even though he is living in Carlow for the last 23 years.