With no respect for etiquette on the fairways, let alone a dress code, a group of scruffy porcine invaders has left a trail of devastation across a prestigious Arizona golf course hailed among the country’s finest.
Greenkeepers at the picturesque Seven Canyons Golf Club in Sedona have posted to social media videos of the destruction wrought by the marauding pack of javelinas, also known as collared peccaries, which has dug up large areas of the course.
“What should be one of the most beautiful golf courses in the country is being destroyed by herds of javelina,” Em Casey, assistant superintendent of the club, posted to X, formerly Twitter.
Come along with me on my carnage (I mean course) check this morning. What should be one of the most beautiful golf courses in the country is being destroyed by herds of javelina. If anyone has a contact in AZ state govt that can help us find a solution please pass it along. pic.twitter.com/XftywHtVCf
— Em Casey (@emcaseyturf) October 22, 2023
According to Golf Monthly, the rooting javelinas have been active for several weeks, creating a sprawling patchwork of oversized divots that would put even the most hapless hacker to shame. Tees, fairways and rough of multiple holes have all experienced the unwelcome excavation.
Until the pack’s arrival, Seven Canyons, situated in a canyon in the Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness area of central Arizona, was a picture-perfect example of a golf resort, its scenic panorama described by its general manager, Dave Bisbee, as “the Imax of golf”. Now, in Casey’s description, it is a scene of carnage caused by the javelinas.
The herbivores, which resemble wild boar in size and appearance, are native to the south-western United States into central South America. They travel in small herds.
And they feast primarily on cacti, the Texas parks and wildlife service says, but also have a fondness for numerous other plants including mesquite beans, fruits and insects.
The animals’ reputation for ferocity is undeserved, the service says, although when cornered, “they can defend themselves very effectively with sharp canine teeth or ‘tusks’.”
In a post last month, Casey documented an early taste of the destruction to come, her photographs showing piles of dirt and turf around the 7th tee.
“The javelina don’t seem to like the actual tees but dang they sure do like the rough around them though,” she wrote.
Club officials referred requests for comment on Tuesday to Bisbee, but he was unavailable.
Casey, meanwhile, revealed to Golf Monthly that groundskeepers have resorted to unusual methods, so far without success, to try to minimize the javelinas’ impact. They include covering areas of the course with potent chilli oil, which she says will be expanded across the course if it proved effective and did not damage grass.
The Texas wildlife service recommends a number of other measures that can be taken, including low-voltage electric fences, and eliminating food sources to make the animals hunt elsewhere. But in an area of the country where cacti are ubiquitous, that would not seem to be a viable solution.
“One of the most least understood, and often feared animals that individuals come into contact with is the javelina,” it said.
“But aggressive encounters with humans are very rare. [They] can be very troublesome to landowners when they become habituated to homes and human activities.”
