|
|
Cheeky crows steal golf balls
01.12.09
by Linda McGrory
GREENCASTLE Golf Club members are not enjoying their
birdies these days as a band of cheeky crows swoop
down and steal their golf balls.
Players are getting increasingly fed up with the
antics of the feathered thieves who are targeting
the 18-hole links course on an almost daily basis.
One player, Phonsie McCole, who has been a club
member for nearly 20 years, yesterday said he and
his partner have had golf balls pinched on a number
of occasions.
"The problem seems to be getting worse with the
crows. I'm hearing more and more players say they're
getting balls lifted.
"I had a ball lifted by a crow last Saturday on the
4th hole and my partner had one lifted on the 7th.
Last year, the same partner found a nest in the
rough with around 400 golf balls lying in a heap on
the ground. It was incredible," he said.
The bandit crows are creating a headache for golf
club manager Billy McCaul who says matchplay results
are being affected. |
 |
"As far as I'm aware,
the crows are lifting the balls pretty much all
across the course but it seems to have got a lot
worse in the last five or six weeks and we're not
sure why. Matchplay results are being affected
because people are finding their balls missing when
they go to play them," he said.
"There's not a lot we can do about it. We'll just
have to live with it," he added. The rules of golf
state that if a ball in motion is accidentally
deflected or stopped by any outside agency, it is
deemed a 'rub of the green'. There is no penalty and
the ball must be played from where it originally
lay. If the ball is not immediately recoverable,
another ball may be substituted.
Birdwatch Ireland development officer Niall Hatch
says it is likely the brazen birds think the golf
balls are tasty eggs.
"I myself have witnessed crows lifting golf balls.
We're not 100% certain why they do it, but it is
widely believed they think the golf balls are eggs.
"We think it is generally the younger birds that
lift the balls. When they drop the balls and they
don't crack like eggs and they can't eat them, they
then start playing with them," he said. "Crows,
including jackdaws and rooks, are highly intelligent
birds and they enjoy playing with unusual objects.
They’re also very strong birds and they would have
no problem lifting the weight of a golf ball with
their beaks," said Mr Hatch. |
|
