The Loop

Watch 20 mongoose run onto the green at the European Tour event in South Africa

November 10, 2016

Golf's intersection with wildlife on the golf course mostly yields a pleasant interaction. We expect to see alligators in the Southeast. Same goes with snakes in the west, or deer in the Northeast.

So with the European Tour playing in South Africa this week, tour players might've expected to encounter some exotic animals. You might even welcome some wildlife during a practice round -- add some excitement to that typical basic Tuesday or Wednesday session.

During a tournament round? Not something you'd expect. But that's what happened on Thursday at Gary Player Country Club during the European Tour's Nedbank Golf Challenge on the Race to Dubai. A pack of 20 mongoose ran onto a green to greet this group.

Who knew mongoose (mongeese?) had such good etiquette? The animals didn't even touch the golf balls sitting on the green. Just ran right past.

As Americans, we'd probably be freaked out if these creatures ran toward the green. But the European Tour guys barely reacted. These pros travel the world -- so they expect to see crazy wildlife on the course. Monkeys and giraffes might be reason to pause -- guess a couple mongoose are tame all things considered.

And it looks like they're trained well down there in Sun City.