We have entered the period of the season when game-disrupting elements of nature come into view. There are pecking crows, blooming mushrooms and deer playing and fighting on the greens. All three conditions are natural and are seasonal. But the crows' cawing is especially annoying.
Crows are happily digging for caterpillars on the golf course. Right now there are lots of large caterpillars close to the surface where they feed on grass roots, among other things. It is a good and easy food source for the crows, but unfortunately the latter are not good at cleaning up after themselves. Every morning the greenkeepers are met with dug up turf on several fairways and foregreens, but it can also occur on the greens. We repair the damage during the working day, but you may experience that we have not had time to repair the damage or that it has occurred after working hours.
Damage of this kind will occur until the larvae burrow further into the soil, i.e. 1 to 2 more months depending on the temperature. The following local rule is therefore being introduced today:
“In the general area, areas of damage caused by birds are treated as areas under repair from which relief without penalty is available under Rule 16.1b. However, interference does not exist if the damage only interferes with the player’s stance.”
Penalty for playing a ball from a wrong place in violation of local regulations: General punishment under Rule 14.7a i.e. 2 penalty strokes/loss of hole.