Not that long ago, in a fictional universe not that far away, a young Bill Murray did battle with a mischievous gopher in the popular film “Caddyshack.” For many golf lovers, Murray’s head-to-head with the gopher is the most memorable part of the most famous golf movie ever made. Then there’s the classic 90s comedy “Happy Gilmore,” in which a pro golfer has his hand bitten off by an ornery alligator.
But golfers in real life have had a number of wild encounters on golf course greens as well. In fact, golf news is hardly a stranger to creature features. So what are the oddest animals to ever interrupt golf club events? Here’s the top three…
2. It Takes Two… Bald Eagles
At the River Oaks Golf Course in Minnesota, golf program staff discovered a very strange sight when they showed up for work one morning. Employees of the golf association found two huge bald eagles laying down on the course. The eagles had locked their talons together and fallen from the sky, and the police were called in to help separate the birds.
According to Police Capt. Pete Koerner, bald eagles have a “mating ritual in which they lock talons and fall from the sky.”
Somehow, these two lovebirds got stuck, but they flew off without incident once officers pulled them apart.
2. “Andy, It’s Got Your Ball!”
When a trio of Canadian golfers went to take their final putts, they instead found a family of black bears lounging around on the green. At the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort in Vancouver, British Columbia, they watched in awe as an adorable baby bear cub got up on his hind legs and danced around with the flag. When the little dude grew tired of playing with the flag, he tried to scratch his back with it. When that failed, he decided to simply steal the ball.
3. Turtle Survives After Close Encounter of the Alligator Kind
There’s no shortage of stories about alligators roaming free on Florida golf courses. In fact, hardly a month goes by without a piece of weird golf news from Florida, usually alligator related. But just this September there was some particularly funny golf news from Florida.
Golfer Steven Backman snapped a picture of an alligator eating a turtle at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Meyers. Steven was just off the 18th green when he saw an eight-foot alligator with a red-bellied turtle in its mouth. But when the golfer tried to scare the alligator away, the little turtle sprang free and made it to safety.
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