The Broadmoor: It's a Bear

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The East Course at the Broadmoor Resort may be a bear, but it wasn't the bear that had everyone talking on Friday. The one that had everyone talking was instead the black bear that crossed the 13th fairway in the midst of the second round of the U.S. Senior Open.

"I heard the officials actually saying that the bear was up in a tree," second-round leader Fred Funk said, "but if the bear got back down, that they were going to tranquilize it and halt play. It would be pretty scary if it got a little panicky and some spectator or some of the golfers were too close."

A USGA official said he had not heard of the tranquilizing plan, but the bear left the premises of its own volition. To prevent further potentially dangerous wild-animal-kingdom intrusions, the USGA decided it would deploy local wildlife officials to monitor the perimeter of the course on a 24-hour basis.

The Broadmoor sits at the base of the Rocky Mountains on the southwestern side of Colorado Springs. It should have come as no surprise that wildlife of some sort would turn up during the course of play. In its tournament fact sheet, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America identified wildlife that frequents the premises. Black bears were first on a list that also included bobcats, mountain lions, coyotes and snakes.

-- John Strege