There was a late afternoon fiver wandering to the first tee of the wooded Algonkian Regional Park golf course in Sterling on October 5th for a round.
The group didn’t have an official start time, but that particular five-man from Hirschen didn’t care. They stood and grazed in the teeing area for a while, moving slowly and pecking in the fairway grass near the cart track. A couple of her friends came to join what turned into a sevens.
There weren’t any human golfers in close proximity (about 50 feet), but then the deer on the Algonkian course talk to humans pretty well. The two groups basically coexist across the 18 holes and have been for years. Those many man-made sounds at Algonkian don’t really scare the deer off. You got used to all that rattle.
That was the case that afternoon as the finals of the 6D North Region High School golf tournament came to an end and darkness fell over the course.
Finally the fiver went down the fairway, a couple ventured into the woods alone. [Maybe they were searching for golf balls.]
Deer have been incredibly numerous in the park for decades. In any case, be careful when driving in and out of the course or when driving a golf cart on the course. The animals are everywhere. They lie on putting greens and fairways and gather in large groups on the driving range. They regularly cross fairways and sometimes stand near human golfers when they hit shots.
When darkness fell, up to a dozen deer in a pack crossed the street right in front of a car, forcing it to stop and wait. This is also common with Algonkian. Fours, fives, eights, probably even thirties meet to play a round.
They outnumber the golfers by far.