llamas invite themselves onto the golf courses

At a North Carolina golf course, rather than renting a cart or small electric vehicle to carry their equipment, players can rent a llama as a caddy.

Sherwood Forest Golf Course has been offering this option for around fifteen years and this golf course is quite far from the cliché of a very strict country club. Lost in the mountains of North Carolina an hour from the nearest town, every hole on the course is a par 3, that is to say a hole supposed to be finished in three shots. The course therefore takes less time to complete than the traditional ones and there is no dress code.

There is no reservation necessary to play, which is often the case elsewhere, in a country where 25 million people play golf and it is especially possible to rent a llama as a caddy. The latter do not wait patiently at the entrance for a player to come and pick them up, since they live on a neighboring farm and you have to call to reserve them. Around $50 per animal for the 9-hole course and you have to take two, so the cost comes to $100 minimum, but that’s the price of a separate experience.

This idea of ​​llamas on a golf course is that of Mark English, who is neither the owner nor the manager of the golf course, but a simple fan of the sport and former caddy in his childhood. He remembers that when he was 10 years old, he carried the bags in the middle of summer and they are hot and humid in this southern US state. He asked himself at that age why not use llamas and it became his life’s goal.

His mother suggested that he may have been marked by a llama-like creature in a Dr. Seuss book, very popular with American children and then in the Andes, llamas are used to carry bags.

Mark English has a farm where he raises llamas, organizes hikes for tourists and for children with disabilities. Since the farm was near the golf course, he told the manager, a former professional player, about his idea, assuring him that he could train them for this particular task. The manager had doubts, including about English’s mental health, but those doubts disappeared when he saw people stopping on the side of the road to take photos or when he started receiving calls from media.

The main quality of llamas is that they do not speak and many golfers like silence, although the role of a caddy, beyond carrying the equipment is to advise the golfer on the course, the wind and the use of clubs. However, according to the manager, questioned by theThe New York Timesthe presence of llamas makes players smile and relaxes everyone on the course, which can help in a sport where concentration is important.

The other significant advantage of llamas is that their paws, similar to those of dogs, do not damage the course, unlike the hooves of a horse for example. They are also trained not to relieve themselves anywhere and sometimes, a golfer unhappy with his level of play, stops before the end and goes for a walk with the animal.