Colorado golf course make changes to protect bald eagles

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - A Colorado golf course has made changes to protect a pair of bald eagles nesting along the course.

The toughest hole at a golf course in Englewood has ruined many an otherwise excellent score. But, for now, the par five is much shorter and easier. Perfect, in fact, to score an eagle.

"Our maintenance crew noticed them first about six weeks ago. And we began to see them more frequently out here, pulling branches starting to build their nest.

The male just hopped on the nest, and the female took off towards the water.

It's kind of baffling why the eagles chose to nest where they did.

It's already pretty tough to be sick of coming out to a golf course and having a great time, but when you have the backdrop of a couple of bald eagles, it makes the round that much more special for sure.

About two, three weeks ago, we began observing that one of the birds was staying in the nest pretty much 24-7.

Unfortunately, there's no real way for us to verify officially that there is an egg up there.

But the fact that now, a few weeks later, there's still a bird staying in the nest the majority of the time, it's pretty safe to say they've got some eggs.

We want to protect the birds and make sure their nesting is successful. Part of that is to avoid any overhead flying objects that might, you know, hit the birds.

Unfortunately, golf balls get hit at ball speeds well over 100 miles an hour. It could easily kill a bird.

The hole's been basically cut in half. It's a par five that's 550 plus yards, and it's now a par three that's only about 175 yards long. Unfortunately, it's made one of the toughest holes on the golf course one of the easiest.

But when you get to see a couple giant bald eagles, you're not too worried about playing a par three instead of a par five."

Tyler Gunkel, City of Englewood Golf Supervisor