It seems like we hear about some hotshot wrecking a golf course with their pickup vehicle almost every day. Only this year have we witnessed a Champions Tour venue destroyed 36 hours prior to the start of the competition and a whole dirt bike crew tear through a Delaware course in broad daylight. The world is growing worse and worse—boredom is rife, crime is now a viral trend, blah yadda yadda—but nothing compares to what’s been happening at this premier Arizona golf course. Now is the moment to look away if you’re sensitive to graphic golf gore.
Superintendent Em Casey photographed this image at Seven Canyons Golf Club in Sedona early on Sunday. But the reason for this wasn’t people, the weather, or some type of extraterrestrial blight; rather, it was a herd of cuddly javelinas, which resemble small boars.
But don’t be fooled by their cute appearance. Javelinas are robust and obstinate. They vigorously protect their area, occasionally engaging in life-or-death combat with one another over a prickly pear, which is their preferred treat. Although some have been recorded as large as 50, they typically move in herds of five to fifteen. Even cougars, one of the planet’s apex predators, are scared of them when they move in groups. What chance does a greenkeeper have in that case?
That is a valid question, and Casey is eager to find the solution. As you can see from the video, Seven Canyons has sustained substantial, possibly catastrophic damage. In 2023, Golf Digest ranked Seven Canyons as the 24th greatest golf course in Arizona. However, you can’t simply employ an exterminator. Because javelinas are considered “big game species” under Arizona law, it is illegal to catch, harm, or kill them without first complying with a “rigorous” set of requirements, even when they may be endangering people or property. We’ll have to wait and see where that leaves Seven Canyons, but let’s hope that this pack has had enough and has gone on to fairways or greener pastures.