Emu Finds the Golf Course Has Better Rough

A runaway emu has spent the weeks since its escape living at a local golf course, where the rough is apparently more accommodating and nobody has managed to establish its handicap.

The bird got loose from a farm in Danville in June after flooding provided an unexpected opportunity to leave. Rather than remain on the farm and wait for conditions to improve, it made its way into the wider world.

Its chosen destination was not a road, a town centre or any of the other places traditionally selected by escaped livestock hoping to cause maximum inconvenience. The emu instead settled at a nearby golf course.

There it has been living in the meantime, bringing a distinctly Australian presence to the local fairways. An emu is not an obvious piece of golf-course equipment, although it is at least less likely than a goose to pretend it owns the place.

The arrangement began with the flooding in June, which allowed the bird to escape from the Danville farm. The available information does not specify exactly how it reached the golf course, how far it travelled or whether it had considered alternative sporting venues before committing itself.

Nor is there any indication that the emu has attempted to play. Its lack of clubs may be a factor, along with the difficulty of maintaining a conventional grip when one has wings. Any suggestion that it has been refusing to disclose its handicap must therefore remain unconfirmed.

What is clear is that the golf course has served as the bird’s home since it got loose. The episode has turned what began as a problem caused by flooding into the unusual spectacle of a large flightless bird taking up residence in landscaped sporting surroundings.

The account does not say whether the emu has now been caught, returned to the farm or formally accepted as part of the course. It also gives no timetable for what happens next.

For the moment, then, the escapee’s position remains straightforward: it left a Danville farm during June’s flooding and has since been living at a local golf course. Whether it prefers the fairway, the green or the better rough is known only to the emu, which has made no public comment.