The world’s most difficult Par 5 required players to avoid two ferocious lions, twenty hyenas, and even a dead giraffe in addition to landing in a bunker.
Play at the Skukuza Gold Club in eastern South Africa’s Kruger National Park was halted while the “hazards” were being removed.
At the nine-hole, 18-tee course, which is open to the wild animals without a fence, two hunting lionesses had killed a fully grown giraffe on the fairway for breakfast.
A group of twenty similarly ravenous hyenas attacked them as they nestled up and waited for the rest of the pride to join them once they smelled the recent murder.
Due of their overwhelming size, the hungry hyena group was able to drive the lions away and take the prizes, dining at dawn on the injured giraffe.
Even though the two furious lionesses made many efforts to recover their well-earned prey, the smaller but more numerous hyenas in a feeding frenzy were unstoppable.
The crazy golf course in the centre of the Kruger National Park was first constructed in 1972 for the personnel, but it was soon offered to local residents and visitors as well.
The fact that there are no fences between golfers and the Big Five—lions, leopards, buffalos, elephants, and rhinoceroses—as well as other deadly predators, however, presents its own set of perilous perils.
On the Par 72, 5831-meter course, club members have often come into contact with lions, hippos, leopards, elephants, giraffes, wild dogs, pythons, cobras, and warthogs.
Additionally, groups of mischievous baboons have been known to steal players’ flags, golf clubs, and balls.
For nine holes, a round on the course costs £14, and for 18 holes, it costs £20.
Without first signing an indemnification card that releases the club in the event that they are eaten, players are not permitted to tee off.
Jean Rossouw, the 32-year-old club captain and greenkeeper, called Skukuza the “World’s Wildest Course” and said, “In 2019, I came face to face with eight lions and had to shoo them off!”
The early morning course visit to ensure that all of our overnight “guests” have left and that it is safe for our members and guests to tee-off is a crucial component of my work.
There are no fences to prevent the Big 5 or any other creatures from passing through, so we are out in the wild. It is a great area to play golf and there are never two alike.
At about 6.30 in the morning, four juvenile lions and lioness entered the area and killed a giraffe. However, 20 or more hyenas chased them away before they could finish devouring the animal.
We had to call in rangers from the South African National Park, which owns and manages the Kruger National Park, to cope with the players who wanted to tee off.
Hyenas and vultures had already consumed nearly a quarter of the giraffe by the time they came to pull it away. They then moved it to another area of the park to resume their feast.
After the hyenas and vultures finished eating it, there were just bones left after 12 hours, so I assume the lions had to move on to find another place to have their meal.
“We moved the lions, hyenas, and giraffes out of the road while the golfers scheduled to leave at tea time had an early breakfast and some coffees.
Skukuza’s uniqueness stems from the fact that you never know what will happen when you play, he remarked.
The Kruger and the course are managed by South African National Parks, who stated: “Uninvited spectators are a regular sight with lions, leopards, and hippo to mention a few!”
A lion would always prevail over a hyena in a battle to the death because of its superior size, speed, and strength, unless the lion was old or wounded.
In the story of the tape, a lion may weigh up to 600 pounds, as opposed to 190 pounds for a hyena, and can grow to be 8 feet long and 4 feet tall at the shoulder, as opposed to 3 feet for a hyena.
When compared to hyenas, who move slower at 40 mph but in greater numbers, lions can achieve speeds of 50 mph and cover the length of a football field in six seconds.
Because of the strength of the hyena bite, if their pack significantly outnumbers a lion pride, the lions may decide to give up the prey rather than risk suffering major harm at such a remote chance.