THE INNER RAZORBACK in me enjoyed reading about a Swedish golf club’s solution to a costly wild boar piglet problem.
Yes, I have some relatives from the Arkansas-Oklahoma border, and I’ve cheered for the Arkansas football and basketball teams a time or two.
The destructive piglets also reminded me, as all golf-related pest problems do, of Bushwood Country Club Greenskeeper Carl Spackler and his ill-fated attempts at uprooting that dancing gopher in “Caddyshack.”
A wild boar family appeared recently at Domle Golf Course, according to the English-language Swedish news site www.local.se.
After about a week the golf club members “finally tired of the [pigs] foraging in the rough, nosing across the greens and snuffling along the fairways.”
In a short time, the boars had done a number on the course’s fairways and were starting to go after the greens.
In a photo from the original story (www.thelocal.se/36406/20110928/) you can almost see more upturned dirt and dig holes than you do of the previously unblemished fairway.
To try and remedy the situation the club hired a hunter to track down the boars and he was successful, shooting two of the piglets on the approach to the fifth hole.
“In order to preempt the problem the club is now busy erecting electrical fences around the area that has been worst affected by the hungry boars.”
This comes at a cost of around $3,700.
No word however, on if the two little piggies ever went to market.
My question for the golfing public is if North Olympic Peninsula golf courses have ever had a similar scourge attempt to take over its tee boxes, fairways or greens?
If you have any good golf-pest stories, pass them along to pdngolf@gmail.com.
Cedars Demo Day
Sequim’s Cedars at Dungeness will host a TaylorMade Demo Day from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday.
You can try out one of those R11 drivers that are all the rage as well as other items from the TaylorMade product line.
SkyRidge Scramble
SkyRidge Golf Course in Sequim will host a Family Scramble Golf Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 15.
The two-person, 18-hole medal play event is limited to the first 36 teams and will kick off with a 9 a.m. shotgun start.
Cost is $90 per team and includes green fees, range balls, KP’s, team long putt, gross and net honey pots and a tasty lunch.
The event is open to all blood or marital relations, and no GHIN handicap is needed.
There will also be a $5 Skins game.
Carts are $13 per seat.
To sign up, phone SkyRidge at 360-683-3673.
Whine and Roses a hit
Carolyn Gill of the Dungeness Women’s 18-hole Ladies Club checked in to tell me that more than 90 players participated in the Whine and Roses Invitational sponsored by her group.
This was a record turnout, with players enjoying two beautiful days of golf.
In the first division, Shirley Hauter and Barb Evens; Judy Flanders and Linda Beatty; and Maureen Smedere and Christie Greiter all tied with a gross 77.
Nana Goff and Pat Emswiler were first in the first division with a net 53.
Second division winners included Barb Burrows and Pat Rollman with a gross 81; and Rita Lipinski and Gayle Wilcox with a net of 56.
In third division, Lori Wyngaert and Elaine Fredrickson won with a gross 84 and Betty Kettel and Barb Thompson had a winning net of 56.
Discovery Bay events
The Discovery Bay Men’s Club passed along an email with information on its weekly games.
They play at the course near Port Townsend at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
There is also a two-person game at 5 p.m. on Thursdays and a night golf contest at 7 p.m. on Fridays beginning this week.
The night golf will last “until the rains come.”
A Skins Game is also open all day on Sunday for $10.
Just turn in a signed, dated scorecard by the end of the golfing day.
On tap at PTGC
Port Townsend Golf Club assistant pro Gabriel Tonan checked in with some information.
The course punched and sanded its greens a few weeks back and “they are recovering quickly and very nicely,” according to Tonan.
The club holds a weekly nine-hole gross and net Skins game on Thursdays for a $10 entry plus a reduced greens fee.
An 18-hole gross and net Skins game is also held on Saturdays when the course isn’t hosting a tournament. That’s also $10.
Save the date of Saturday, Nov. 5, for the annual two-person scramble Hilltop Open.
A lasagna dinner made by Judy Lundgren will follow play at the Hilltop Tavern.
To sign up for what is always a fun and festive event, phone the course at 360-385-4547.
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Golf columnist Michael Carman can be reached at 360-417-3527 or at pdngolf@gmail.com.