Alright mates, gather ’round the virtual campfire. Wanted to share this wild ride I went on – tracking down golf courses where kangaroos are just… hanging out, surprising players. Figured it’d be a cool Top 5 list. Simple enough, yeah? Reality? Was a proper adventure.
Step 1: Thinking It Would Be Easy Peasy
Started off way too cocky. Thought: “Hey, just google ‘golf courses with kangaroos’.” Easy win. First mistake. Typed that exact phrase. Boom! Millions of results. Mostly generic travel sites claiming “every Aussie course has roos!” which anyone who’s actually chased a white ball here knows is total rubbish. Needed specifics.
Step 2: Hitting Brick Walls Online
Shifted gears. Tried combing golf forums – the ones where real players grumble about bunkers. Searched “kangaroo encounter”, “roo surprise”, even “bloody kangaroo stole my ball”. Found a few mentions, but nothing concrete. Just anecdotes like “Oh yeah, seen one out near the 10th at some course near Perth… name escapes me.” Frustrating! Needed actual course names, locations, reliable stories. Felt like I was digging for treasure in sand.
Step 3: The “Phone-Around” Marathon
Got desperate. Said, “Stuff it, gotta call ’em.” Started phoning golf clubs, mostly around Victoria and South Australia where roos are thicker on the ground. Chat went like this:
“G’day! Quick question – any kangaroos hopping onto your fairways these days?”
Most common response? Laughing. “Mate, they own the place!” Not exactly helpful. Pressed harder: “Okay, but seriously, do players get surprised by ’em? Like, regularly? Proper roo sightings during play?”
- Golf Pro at Course A: “Oh yeah, constantly! Saw a mob of ’em chilling by the 8th green just this morning. Tourist group nearly dropped their putters!”
- Clubhouse Manager at Course B: “We have signs! Warn people they’re wild animals. Mostly they just graze, but they will stare you down if you get too close. Seen a few people nearly shank their shot cause one popped up.”
- Grumpy Greenskeeper at Course C: “Wreck the bloody place sometimes, digging divots like they own the joint. But yeah, they’re here. Saw one actually hop over the 12th green while a fella was lining up his putt last week. Hilarious… for us.”
- Wary Member at Course D: “Look, we don’t encourage feeding ’em, but they know the course better than some players! Regulars, they are. Especially dawn patrol, that’s prime roo time. Startles the newbies something fierce.”
- Bartender at Course E: “Best wildlife show around! Seen videos? Roo jumps clean over a buggy full of Yanks once. They thought it was an attraction we set up!”
This was gold! Now I had names, locations, and specific incidents – not just vague promises. Wrote ’em all down furiously.
Step 4: The “Verification” Trip (Almost Went Pear-Shaped)
Armed with my list of promising courses, figured I gotta see for myself. Picked one near Adelaide that kept popping up – Kangaroo Cliffs Golf Club. Sounds perfect, right?
Drove down super early, hired clubs (mine are junk), paid my green fee. Sun barely up. Walked maybe three holes… nothing. Started doubting everything. “Did those blokes on the phone take the piss?” Feeling properly deflated.
Then, Hole 4. Walking towards the green, heard this weird… thumping? Turned around slowly. Boom. A massive grey kangaroo, just standing about five meters away behind a gum tree, eyeballing me. Legit froze. Not scared, just… stunned. He twitched his ears, scratched his chest, looked at me like I was the weirdo on his turf. Then, effortlessly, boing boing boing, off into the bush he went. Left me grinning like an idiot.
Rest of the round, spotted more – smaller groups grazing in the scrub, one chilling near a bunker watching a group tee off. Turns out you gotta know when to look. The locals weren’t joking.
Step 5: Piecing The Top 5 Together (The Fun Part)
Back at the desk, finally felt like I had something real. Cross-referenced the phone calls and my own sightings (especially the Hole 4 Stare-Down Champion roo) with forum snippets. Focused on courses where it’s common, unexpected for visitors, and frankly, kinda awesome/scary/funny.
Ranked ’em based on how reliably you might get surprised, plus the scale of the surprise. A lone roo is cool, but a whole mob chilling on the green while you putt? Or one hopping over your cart? Pure gold for the list. Made sure the courses were legit places folks could play, not just safari parks disguised as golf.
So yeah, finding those Top 5 wasn’t just googling. Took phoning around, grilling staff, doubting myself, almost giving up, then getting that heart-thumping encounter that made it all make sense. Course list is locked in now, ready to share – but the hunt? That’s the story! Fair dinkum adventure.