'Just playing through': Kangaroos take no prisoners at Aussie golf courses

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – In a made-for-social-media moment, a mob of kangaroos swarmed golf courses in Australia this week, going instantly viral with both animal lovers and the 18-hole crowd.

Stephen Roche, a golfer who recorded footage of the kick-ready roos on Wednesday, said they ran through two golf courses near Melbourne in Victoria state.

“We have kangaroos on our 2 courses at Heritage Golf & Country Club, but I’ve never seen this before!!” he said on X.

Onlookers were stunned when they saw a troop of dozens of marsupials athletically bounding across the course, not caring if they interrupted anyone’s perfect game.

Interruptions by animals of sports events often highlight tournaments and games, including in Australia, which in 1908 declared kangaroos a national symbol.

Roche himself was just trying to play the links when non-members invaded the course in force.

Golf Australia, which locally governs the sport, responded to Roche’s video nonchalantly, saying: “No problems with pace of play with the roos at Heritage Golf & Country Club.”

Golfer Michael McCarthy also recorded the kanga invasion on video, commenting on X: “Felt like it went forever.”

In 2021, the club faced controversy when it said would carry out culling of kangaroos but backtracked after getting flak from animal lovers. The club had said it would instead install fences to prevent animal invasions.​​​​​​​