List of courses where livestock still graze

[Matt Schoolfield]

My plan was to go to Scotland this year specifically to play course where livestock still graze the land. Ideally this means sheep, but also cattle or other animals where grazing at least somewhat affects the turf. However, if there are courses where wildlife has a non-trivial effect on the turf, that's obviously acceptable too.

In response to Brora voting to remove grazing animals, I'm trying to create a list (and map) of courses where this is still a thing. I found this old thread, which has about 25 courses. I will keep a list here in the first post, and update it with any changes. Please let me know if there are any missing or mistaken:

• Courses where livestock graze.

Map: https://golfcourse.wiki/list/grazing_animals

Achill Island Golf Club: Sheep
Anglesea Golf Club: Kangaroo
Appleby Golf Club
Askernish Golf Club
Baildon Golf Club
Ballyhack Golf Club: Goats
Barra Golf Club
Beverley & East Riding Golf Club: Cattle
Bonar Bridge Ardgay Golf Club
Bramshaw Golf Club Forest Course: Horses
Brora Golf Club: Sheep & Cattle
Burley Golf Club
Church Stretton Golf Club: Sheep & Horses
Cleeve Hill Golf Club Cleeve Cloud
Clyne Golf Club
Cockermouth Golf Club
Dannebrog Country Club: Sheep
Dunaverty Golf Club: Cattle
Durness Golf Club
Fort Augustus Golf Club
Gairloch Golf Club
Gweedore Golf Club
Heathcote Golf Club: Kangaroo
Helmsdale Golf Club
Hermitage Golf Course & The Presidents Reserve Course: Sheep
Holywell Golf Club
Iona Golf Course: Sheep
Isle Of Colonsay Golf Course: Sheep
Isle Of Harris Golf Club
Kingarrock Hickory Golf: Sheep
Kington Golf Club
Lahinch Golf Club Old Course: Goats
Lillooet Sheep Pasture Golf Course: Sheep
Lobden Golf Club
Lybster Golf Club
Machrihanish Dunes: Sheep
Machynlleth Golf Club
Merthyr Tydfil Golf Club: Sheep
Minchinhampton Golf Club Old Course
Mulranny Golf Links
New Forest Golf Club
Newtonmore Golf Club
Otway Golf Club
Painswick Golf Club: Cattle
Pennard Golf Club: Sheep & Cattle
Portmahomack Tarbat Golf Club
Royal Guernsey Golf Club
Royal North Devon Golf Club
Southerndown Golf Club
Reay Golf Club
Tavistock Golf Club
The Heath Golf Club: sheep
The Lighthouse Keepers Golf Course
Ullapool Golf Club
Vaul Golf Club
Waverley Golf Club
Welshpool Golf Club
West Monmouthshire Golf Club
Yelverton Golf Club

• Courses where they probably don't:

Aberdovey
Benbecula Golf Club
Narin & Portnoo
Perranporth
Rosapenna (Coastguard)
Halifax Golf Club
Sutton ColdfieldTraigh Golf Course (no longer)
Brambles (not actually on course)
Pulpit Paintbrush (not actually on course)

Let me know if there are any I missed and/or got incorrect and I will continue to update this list.

[Tom_Doak]

I'm not aware of the Coastguard nine at Rosapenna being grazed, but I could be wrong?


There are at least *some* courses in New Zealand where animals graze the fairways.  Waverley is the only one that I have played.  There used to be a great one about 20 miles from Cape Kidnappers, where my crew would play, but it has been closed for several years.


There must be some country courses in Australia as well that are grazed.


P.S.  If elk count, then you can include Rock Creek and Tumble Creek!

[cary lichtenstein]

Tasmania...we were on this tee when about 15-20 minature cangroos stopped 40 yards from the tee.


A different day there were the Tasmanins Devils


Also in Jasper Park, Moose roam wild on both the golf course and on the streets

[Matt Schoolfield]

Updated to say livestock, as opposed to wildlife. Ideally this means sheep, but cattle and other domestic or other animals whose grazing functions as a a form of turf mowing. However, if there are courses where wildlife is one of the dominant forms of turf maintenance, that's obviously acceptable too.

[Sean_A]

My plan was to go to Scotland this year specifically to play course where livestock still graze the land. Ideally this means sheep, but also cattle or other animals where grazing functions as a a form of turf mowing. However, if there are courses where wildlife is one of the dominant forms of turf maintenance, that's obviously acceptable too.

In response to Brora voting to remove grazing animals, I'm trying to create a list (and map) of courses where this is still a thing. I found this old thread, which has about 25 courses. I will keep a list here in the first post, and update it with any changes. Please let me know if there are any missing or mistaken:

Aberdovey
Appelby
Askernish
Brambles (that's the plan at least)
Church Stretton
Cleeve Hill (Cleeve Cloud)
Clyne
Dunaverty
Gweedore
Iona
Kington
Machynlleth
Minchinhampton Old
Mulranny
Narin & Portnoo - maybe?
Otway
Painswick
Pennard
Perranporth
Rosapenna (Coastguard)  - maybe?
Royal North Devon
Southerndown
Sutton Coldfield
Tavistock
Welshpool
West Monmouthshire
Yelverton

Let me know if there are any I missed and/or got incorrect and I will continue to update this list.

I am not aware of livestock grazing

Painswick
Perranporth
Otway
Aberdovey
Narin and Portnoo

I think Sutton Coldfield may have removed the cows. I haven’t seen them in some time. If I recall the fences were removed, but not sure.

Holywell had sheep.

Happy New Year

[James Reader]

Machrihanish Dunes has some sheep.

[Charlie Goerges]

Are the livestock already off the course in Brora, or will it happen in future? When?

[Matt Schoolfield]

Are the livestock already off the course in Brora, or will it happen in future? When?

They are still there, but they will be removed at some indefinite period. If I lived in GB&I or Europe, I'd make the trip, but planning a trip from the west coast of America "still there for now" isn't really good enough for me to plan something for late April/early May.

[Colin Sheehan]

Aren't there some goats running around at Lahinch? Or at least once upon a time, right?

[Matt Schoolfield]

Aren't there some goats running around at Lahinch? Or at least once upon a time, right?

Indeed, I will update

[Niall C]

Matt


When you refer to courses where "grazing functions as a form of turf mowing" are you trying to distinguish between courses where the primary purpose of having livestock on the course is to keep the grass short for playing golf as opposed to just keeping the livestock fed ? Or perhaps you are looking for courses where grazing is the only means of keeping the grass short ie. no mechanical mowers. FWIW I don't think I know any course where machines aren't used.


Niall

[Matt Schoolfield]

When you refer to courses where "grazing functions as a form of turf mowing" are you trying to distinguish between courses where the primary purpose of having livestock on the course is to keep the grass short for playing golf as opposed to just keeping the livestock fed ? Or perhaps you are looking for courses where grazing is the only means of keeping the grass short ie. no mechanical mowers. FWIW I don't think I know any course where machines aren't used.

I just mean places where animals are put there to consume the grasses. Not wild deer, which do consume grasses, but not significantly and aren't put there for that intent (which would include nearly every course I grew up playing in Austin), and not, say, honey bees, which are domesticated and farmed, but don't actually affect the turf.

I'm just talking about golf course that are existing like they did historically, as a game that can be played on land that farmers use to graze their livestock.

[Sean Walsh]

There must be some country courses in Australia as well that are grazed.

My home course Heathcote GC has more than a hundred resident kangaroos. I’m guessing they would graze the same amount as a sheep. They also graze at a similar height to sheep. As a result Heathcote has very little that could qualify as rough.


No need for green fences they very very rarely travers the greens. The wildlife that provides the constant battle for the greens are corellas and galahs

Not put there to graze as such but they are as resident as any flock of sheep would be.

The only downside is they do have a tendency to laze just off the fairway at a nice driving distance. I did once euthanise one from around 200m

[Matt Schoolfield]

My home course Heathcote GC has more than a hundred resident kangaroos. I’m guessing they would graze the same amount as a sheep. They also graze at a similar height to sheep. As a result Heathcote has very little that could qualify as rough.


No need for green fences they very very rarely travers the greens. The wildlife that provides the constant battle for the greens are corellas and galahs

Not put there to graze as such but they are as resident as any flock of sheep would be.

This is interesting, I would not have expected it.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Since people are posting courses outside of Scotland - The Paintbrush, formerly Devil's Paintbrush, north of Toronto.
https://issuu.com/blenheim/docs/ogsa_oncourse_august-2022-web/s/16786944

[Tom_Doak]

• The did but NLE:

Waverley


Let me know if there are any I missed and/or got incorrect and I will continue to update this list.

Matt:


You misunderstood my post.  At Waverley the sheep are still quite active.  It was another course in NZ that is NLE -- it was a long Maori name, can't remember it right now.

[Matt Schoolfield]

You misunderstood my post.  At Waverley the sheep are still quite active.  It was another course in NZ that is NLE -- it was a long Maori name, can't remember it right now.

My bad, working on an update. Thanks!

[David_Tepper]

It would not surprise me at all if the sheep & cattle are still grazing at Brora well into the 2026 golf season. The legal wheels can turn very slowly in Scotland.

[Ben Sims]

Are the livestock already off the course in Brora, or will it happen in future? When?

They are still there, but they will be removed at some indefinite period. If I lived in GB&I or Europe, I'd make the trip, but planning a trip from the west coast of America "still there for now" isn't really good enough for me to plan something for late April/early May.

David is correct above. And based on your list, there’s only a handful of 7’s or above that also have livestock. At the moment, Brora is one of those. If it concerns you, make a phone call. But don't write it off out of spite.

[Matt Schoolfield]

David is correct above. And based on your list, there’s only a handful of 7’s or above that also have livestock. At the moment, Brora is one of those. If it concerns you, make a phone call. But don't write it off out of spite.


Also, Brambles isn’t that far from you.

I would certainly not write them off out of spite. I plan on doing a trip for a week or two to spend time at one or two courses (I'm much more concerned about getting to know a course more than checking a box). It is just impractical to begin planning a trip and making potentially week-or-two-long reservations for accommodations, at some cost, to then learn that they've removed the livestock a week before I show up. I can certainly shoot them an email to see what the current timeline is though.

Brambles is very close, and I do have a place to stay in Calistoga if I need it. The only issues there is that, currently (as far as I know), the sheep are being trained to graze off the rough, so it's not technically a course that qualifies. It's also a private club. When-and-if they start actually grazing the sheep on the course itself, I'll probably look into reaching out to them at some point, but it's private, so who knows.

[David_Tepper]

Matt -


Re: Brambles, I don't think the sheep will be grazing on the fairways at any point in time. I expect they will be used to just graze the rough and the areas out of play. But I could be wrong about that.


The course is spread out over a sizable area. The area "out of play" is huge.


DT

[Daryl David]

If elk count, then you can include Rock Creek and Tumble Creek!



No shit. Literally.

[Matt Schoolfield]

Re: Brambles, I don't think the sheep will be grazing on the fairways at any point in time. I expect they will be used to just graze the rough and the areas out of play. But I could be wrong about that.


The course is spread out over a sizable area. The area "out of play" is huge.

David, I appreciate the info. That is pretty strange if they really aren't going to let the sheep graze the fairways. I'll move them to the "probably not" list then, since it looks like it won't be affecting play.

If elk count, then you can include Rock Creek and Tumble Creek!

The question is do they make a material impact on play? If they do I'd include them.

[David_Tepper]

Matt -

Re: grazing the fairways, while the sheep and cattle do "roam" the fairways at Brora from time to time, they don't do much grazing on the fairways. The mowers keep the turf pretty tight, typical of links courses. The grass in the fairways is not long enough for the sheep to get a mouthful.

Again, almost all the grazing at Brora is done in the rough and areas well out of play.   

DT

[Ben Sims]

The question is do they make a material impact on play? If they do I'd include them.

The most I’ve experienced elk impacting play, but perhaps not in the way you’re going for, is Bear Dance in Larkspur CO and Hiwan Golf Club plus Evergreen Golf Course, both in Evergreen CO. For different reasons. At Bear Dance they put up fences around the green in September and October that would make the single strand electric fence in other parts of the world look positively useless. And up in Evergreen, the herd is so audaciously present that getting beat up by an elk (bull or cow) is a regular danger and has happened more than once.


This isn’t uncommon in other mountain west destinations though.