Golf without wildlife? Impossible

Golfers can’t do without animals. And we are not talking here about whether it is permitted to take your own dog onto the golf course. No, at this point we are talking about all those animals that make a round of golf so special, individual, unpredictable and sometimes controversial, as it can only be because animals are involved. We are thinking here, for example, of the discussion that flares up again and again among some golfers who, in the stress of a tournament, want to elevate the ant to a “digging animal” according to Rule 16 and hope for relief at some point on the course that is not particularly convenient for their ball at the moment. The “digging animal”, no matter how big, often appears to the golfer as a last chance for a saved shot. This applies to the entire golf course, the entire golf experience – it is characterized by animals.

The unpredictability factor

The fact that this often involves unplayable conditions or “ground under repair” is the rather unpleasant side of the medal. Crows, badgers and wild boars digging larvae out of the ground are also part of wildlife, as the saying goes. That is also part of this game. That’s just the way it is when you do a sport in the great outdoors.

Alligators gazing lazily out of the swampy waters of the South Carolina courses, kangaroos sitting impassively on the greens of Australia – these are elements of the game that ensure unpredictability. The Rules of Golf contain instructions for animals hit by the ball, for dangerous animals and for non-moving animals. Animals are firmly anchored in the decisions on the rules of this sport.

A good 3000 deer and stags roam the grounds of the Copenhagen Golf Club in Denmark and drive every greenkeeper to despair as they trample through the bunkers in groups. Anyone who sees them passing by in packs is amazed at how naturally they make this golf course their own. Which is more important: the smooth bunker sand or the lasting impression of this herd?

Then there is the animal life under the turf, inside the ponds, on top of the trees, between the grasses and flowers of the meadows. Flowers will not bloom next year without pollinators, soil culture needs earthworms, bats hunt annoying mosquitoes, and, and, and. Even major courses like Whistling Straits in Wisconsin use sheep to keep the grass in the rough areas lean.

Far more than just visual enrichment

Golf without wildlife is unimaginable, actually impossible, as long as it is played on natural surfaces and in a natural environment. Animal life, often only perceived as a nice visual enrichment, is a necessary addition. Or would it not be much better to talk about enrichment? The fact that a seagull occasionally comes by and takes a ball, that a beaver dams up the small stream and the fairway is therefore underwater – these are all experiences that make this sport unique and different every day.