If you ever get to Melbourne, Australia find a way to get on Huntingdale Golf Club. Huntingdale Golf Club, located in the heart of Melbourne’s world famous “sandbelt” region, is one of the finest golf courses in all of Australia. Since 1979 Huntingdale Golf Club has annually hosted the Australian Masters. Every world famous golfer has enjoyed… and cursed this great old layout known for its rolling fast greens and deep bunkers with sharp edges. At Huntingdale, the favorite golf personality for the annual tournament is, native son, Greg Norman, the winner of the “Yellow Jacket” six times. The Sharks victory over Nick Faldo in 1990 is as famous in Australia as Jack Nicklaus’s last victory at the US Masters.
As golfers one of the things we enjoy about playing this great game is the closeness we feel to Mother Nature. It is hard to play a round without an incident or contact with one of God’s creatures.
Have you ever been attacked by a mad mother?
The scene was a practice round before the Australian Masters in 2007. The foursome was a group of players who had finally earned an invitation into the very prestigious event. They were sporting their new outfits covered with corporate logos. The caddies were busy charting the course and carefully studying the roll of the very undulating greens. The players were discussing every nuance of this world famous venue. One player said, “Our worst nightmare would be to plug a ball under the lip of one of those bunkers.”
On the very next hole a ball was hit into a deep green side bunker. As they strolled up to the green the group noticed a family of ducks walking directly into the bunker. The adults had no problem moving through and hopping up the other side. For the little ducklings it was another story; they tumbled over the edge and found themselves trapped in the death pit. Try as they may they could not jump or claw their way out. One of the caddies took a bunker rake and plucked a few of the chicks out of the “sand trap.” The golfer, whose ball was among the ducklings, entered the bunker with the intention of picking the ducklings up and helping them out.
As he leaned over to help the first chick, A flying, wing-flapping parent protecting her young immediately attacked him. This hilarious scene repeated itself time and time again.
All the frustrated golfers had completely lost their concentration and were worried about holding up the following foursome made up of world famous players. No one hit a practice putt and the caddies did not register a note about the green. Their only thought was how do we get this mad mother under control?
Beware of the ducks.
Check out the video of this “rescue” at:
