My wife and I were talking the other day and the subject of wildlife came up. She is a passionate animal lover and watches many shows on TV about animals ranging from water to land.
I personally love and appreciate animals as well, just not enough to have any of our own. I know this makes me the outlier but we all have our things.
Anyway, during this conversation, she suggested I share some of my wildlife encounters on the golf course. I thought that was a great idea! That all leads us to today’s post.
I don’t have pictures of all my encounters but I do remember most of them. Thankfully, I haven’t had any terrifying instances and I hope it stays that way. Let’s take a trip back in time to relive some of my brushes with our wildlife brethren.
The old saying in media is, “If it bleeds, it leads.” Well for this post, we’ll start with some of the scarier animals.
The most memorable near-miss for me was at Pikewood National. They told us it was a good possibility we could see bears on the West Virginia course. That was terrifying, to say the least. Luckily, we didn’t.
I have been within ten yards of a coyote at San Francisco Golf Club. As we waited on the second tee during a morning round, he ambled across our line and into the woods.
As a South Carolina resident, alligators are something I’ve seen plenty of. Here and in Florida. My favorite story though was playing Caledonia with a couple from Nebraska. They remain some of the nicest people I’ve met on a golf course. However, they were fascinated with an alligator that day. They wanted to see one from closer than the picture below (left corner of the bunker). I wasn’t getting any closer! The course said once they get to ten feet the Department of Natural Resources will relocate them. This guy had to be getting close.
Along the way, I’ve also seen many cute creatures that didn’t have me running the other way. For example, I saw this little one at Barefoot Resort while playing the Love Course.
I’ve also run into rabbits and birds in the desert at Troon North and Shadow Creek, respectively.
It’s hard to look at these animals and not smile. I usually think of my wife when I see animals on a course. I wonder what she would think about seeing them. How she would smile or be surprised. That always makes me happy.
It’s an added bonus when she can be there with me to experience some golf course wildlife!
Trending a little larger, we’ve seen deer multiple places. One was sitting just near a tee box at Wentworth by the Sea. While this guy below and many of his friends were all over the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club.
At Whistling Straits, there are sheep all over the property. They serve as members of the grounds crew eating grass. They have bells on and you can see their wool in the trees they brush past.
That wasn’t my first encounter with sheep on a golf course though. As you get towards the end of the round at The Harvester Club you are warned of an electric fence. It is mostly to keep the sheep (below) in, which is a bit cruel but also to keep people from messing with them.
Along the way, I’ve been pestered by mosquitoes and black flies. I’ve seen crabs next to the driving range at Sea Island. These experiences along with the ones above, always remind me that we have a very diverse world. Golf should seek to live as a symbiotic partner in that world.
At it’s best, golf can provide a place for people to get outside and also not disturb wildlife. Obviously, there are examples were bad practices have occurred. The less of this the better! Let’s all hope golf can continue to improve as a resident of our diverse earth!