Kangaroos scare away the birdies

"Occasionally we have to put them down when they are hit by the balls."

Course spokeswoman

Golfers are used to on a good day hitting birdies, eagles and albatrosses but here at the 100-year-old Stanthorpe golf club they are more likely to hit kangaroos.

While it would seem normal that kangaroos would inhabit any piece of verdant pasture, this course is renowned for the hundreds that line the fairways making it sometimes impossible for the golfers to drive, hook or slice, off the tee.

"The kangaroos don't care hearing the whizz of the ball over their heads," a spokeswoman from the club, three hours drive west of Brisbane, said.

"However occasionally we have to put them down when they are hit by the balls."

She said that they weren't the brightest animals in the world and shouts of "four" when the ball is speeding toward a crowd is not a term they are accustomed to.

"They're pretty thicko [stupid], as is their skin, but players have to go round with quite a few balls because there is a rule where if you hit a kangaroo you get another shot -- I used three off one tee once.

"They just sat there without a care in the world despite the barrage of balls coming their way."

She said the club received some extra visitors every year because of the infestation of kangaroos and there is many a remark made in the clubhouse bar about the marsupials.

The kangaroos are evidently becoming learned spectators of the sport as they venture up to the tee and while mummy roo passes its critical gaze over the member's swing, joey roo comfortably seated in the pouch watches the ball cruise through the air.

However, while the golfers retire to the 19th hole -- the clubhouse bar -- after nine holes to discuss not how many shots they went round in but how many kangaroos they hit, the animal in question eschews the chance of a stiff drink or two.

"They're quite shy and very rarely do they approach the bar -- though one poked his nose in the other day and then went away.

"There's no question of being able to pet them. Not that they are aggressive, it's just they like to keep to themselves," said the spokeswoman.