I played a friendly game of golf at the Kellyville Country Club (in the
Sydney Hills District) last week. At one green I arrived to find that the grass
at the edge of the cup had been torn to shreds and was lying around in clumps -
the diameter of the cup had, effectively, been doubled. The culprit had to be
amongst the dozen or so Long-billed Corellas feeding on the nearby fairway -
they have become a permanent feature on the course of recent times.
The plastic cylinder which forms part of the cup is recessed about 20mm below
the surface of the green - this allows it to support the surrounding soil
without interfering with the path of the ball into the cup. The exposed edge of
soil and grass must represent a tempting target for a bird that ventures
close.
I repaired the green as best I could, noting that if we had been playing in a
competition I would be prevented from doing so by the rules of golf (I would
only be permitted to remove the loose material on the green).
Damage of this nature materially affects the game and, I presume, will not be
tolerated by the Club. For the sake of our feral friends I hope that this was a
one-off discretion.
Bob Way
