I’d just write down a par and skip to the next hole.
When it comes to the game of golf, there are a fair amount of both written and unwritten rules. There are a lot of tertiary things you have to remember while hitting your little white ball around, like making sure to never walk in someone’s line, and to always repair divots and pitch marks (the indention your ball leaves when it hits the green) when you can.
I’m not entirely sure what rule would apply to this “hundreds of elk are standing in the fairway” situation, but I wouldn’t fault anyone for scooping up their golf ball and going to another, less densely populated hole on the course. Just think of it as “playing through,” only to avoid being attacked by a wild animal.
It’s estimated that over 280,000 elk live in Colorado, which is enough to give the state the honor of housing the largest concentrated population of elk in the world. Believe it or not, that many elk bring in tourists from all over the planet, and one of the more popular places they visit is Estes Park, Colorado – which is referred to as the “Elk Capital of the World.”
That’s where this wild-yet-real video takes place. A massive herd of elk had taken over this Colorado golf course, and they weren’t worried about holding up play even in the slightest. All they are thinking is, “Wow, this is the perfect, cleared out spot for endless grazing.” Meanwhile, there’s a group of golfers trying to get a round of golf in, and in my personal opinion (and according to the guidance of the National Parks Service), they got way too close to the elk.
Maybe they should have yelled “FORE?”
The only issue there is that a golfer probably wouldn’t want to risk hitting into the herd. Wildlife in Colorado are protected by a nuisance law, which states that it is illegal to harass wildlife – and endangering, worrying and disturbing all count as harassment. So it’d be a tough scene (and potentially problematic) if a golfer intentionally hit towards the elk, even if they were just trying to play the golf course.
You can’t blame the elk for wanting to hang out on the course though. It looks to be in great shape, and gives them long-range visibility. The course also appears to be in the middle of a more developed area, so predators probably aren’t coming after them if they were to hang around there. The only real problem that elk would have to deal with there are a) golf carts and b) flying golf balls.
From what we can tell, it was a rather peaceful interaction between the golfers and the elk herd. I’d bet that those wild animals frequent the golf course area, and are very much familiar with the sound of golf carts and the presence of humans. That doesn’t mean the golfers should get too comfortable. I hear that the only thing worse than a triple-bogey is getting attacked by a large, antlered animal while out on the golf course.
Fortunately, that didn’t happen in this video posted by Colorado Adventures:
