The most bizarre things superintendents have witnessed at their golf courses
At Keystone Ranch, in Colorado, a truck gave new meaning to "sand trap."
Ann Paulisich
It’s been a riotously busy month in golf, with industry-shaking news about a Tour-Saudi merger, an upstart U.S. Open winner and a coyote chewing through a rope.
What’s that? You missed that last one?
It happened early last week, in Las Vegas, where video emerged of a mangy canine wreaking havoc at Sun City Summerlin’s Highland Falls Course. When superintendent Jake Scharmann posted the snippet on Twitter, it caused the sort of viral stir normally reserved for images of giant alligators strolling across fairways.
Yes, that happens, too.
A lot of crazy things transpire on courses, aside from shanks and whiffs and smother-hooks. Warthogs root up greens. Bald eagles engage in territorial battles. Gophers gnaw through drainage pipes.
And superintendents often bear first-hand witness.
What’s coming next, you never know.
Consider, for instance, the improbable scene last November, at Western Lakes Golf Club, in Pekawaukee, Wis., where a plane carrying scores of rescue dogs crash-landed on snow-covered ground between the second and third fairways. The drama was part Sully, part 101 Dalmatians, and superintendent Mike Bindl and his crew were the first responders. There were three people on board. They all survived. As did every pup, some with scratched-up snouts.
In strange on-course incidents, wild animals are often the protagonists. But human beings bring plenty of crazy, too. Semi-trucks back into greenside bunkers. (See the photo above; the driver was trying to turn around after delivering furniture to a nearby house.) Police chases spill across driving ranges. Disputes between players become boxing matches.
The stories can be funny, sad, head-scratching, disgusting.
But don’t take our word for it. Earlier this year, in Florida, at the annual Golf Course Superintendents Association of America Conference and Trade Show, GOLF.com asked supers to recount the oddest things they’d seen on the course.
Their answers were, well…you can watch and listen to them in the video above!
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