When the European Junior Championship was staged in Iceland in 1981, certain GUI officials discovered to their cost that arctic terns can be dangerous creatures on a golf course. Indeed it is common practice for locals to wave a golf club over their head to avert a dive-bomb attack on the skull by one of these feathered fiends.
So they would have a certain sympathy with the members of the charmingly named Village Greens GC in Illinois. More than 15 of its members have been attacked and injured recently by a red-tailed hawk while defending her nest near the first tee.
Apparently she is at her most dangerous at this time of year when the baby hawks have learned to fly. The situation has become so acute that the US Fish and Wildlife Service have given permission to break up the nest after the current batch of babies have left.
An expert observed that while red-tailed hawks have strong instincts as protective parents, they are not generally aggressive towards humans. To which course manager, Brandon Evans, remarked: "It's a beautiful animal and we like having it around, when it's not attached to the head of one of our golfers."
THIS day in golf history: On June 16th 1821, Old Tom Morris was born in St Andrews, where he died 87 years later, in 1908, as a result of a fall down the clubhouse stairs. In the meantime, he played in every British Open from 1860 until 1896, when he was 75, winning it on four occasions. At 46 years 99 days for his 1867 triumph, he remains the oldest winner. Appointed as St Andrews' first professional in 1864, he was also greenkeeper there until his death.
TEASER: The shaft of a player's club broke during his downswing. The player stopped his swing short of the ball, but the clubhead fell and moved the ball. What is the ruling?
ANSWER: The player did not make a stroke. If the ball was not in play, i.e. the incident involved a tee-shot, no penalty was incurred and the ball must be played from the teeing ground. If the ball was in play, the player would incur a one-stroke penalty under Rule 182a or 2b and the ball must be replaced.
