Move over Tiger Woods! Leopard is spotted playing on a golf course in South Africa
- The leopard was spotted jumping on the third tee of the Skukuza Golf Club
- Greenkeeper Jean Rossouw said animals often visit the course in South Africa
- Mr Rossouw said the golfers delayed their start to make sure the coast was clear
This is the moment a leopard played around at a golf course – leaping like a kitten as it toyed with the equipment.
The unusual footage was captured by Jean Rossouw, club captain and greenkeeper at the Skukuza Golf Club in South Africa during his morning rounds to check the course.
The 30-year-old said: ‘As a greenkeeper, one of my duties is to drive the course early mornings to make sure it’s safe and just to see what’s going on on the golf course.
The leopard was spotted on the third tee of the Skukuza Golf Course which sits within the Kruger National Park
The leopard was spotting jumping across the tee box, delaying the first golfers from starting their early-morning round
Club captain and green keeper Jean Rossouw filmed the leopard during his early-morning inspection of the course
‘I came across her upon the second tee box. From there she walked quite gently towards the third tee box where she started playing like a house cat basically.’
The golf course sits within Kruger National Park and Africa’s big five – lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and buffalo – are no strangers to the facility
He said: ‘I don’t think we’ll probably see that ever again. It’s one of the few occasions where you’ll see a leopard playing with tee box markers.
He added: ‘Anytime you see a leopard it’s a special encounter.
‘I’ve actually been waiting for a while to get something on photo or video because you do just see them quickly and they move off, and you try to appreciate it without taking pictures all the time.
‘But this one posed a little bit for long enough.’
Mr Rossouw said he was not certain why the leopard walked onto the golf course.
He said: ‘I think they’re very curious about all types of different things – even the flags on the green itself, sometimes you get leopards walking towards them.
‘Hyenas tend to walk towards them and pull them up, which is a bit of a nuisance, and you get the baboons playing with them.
‘I think they’re just curious for stuff that’s out of the ordinary, stuff that’s not in nature, that they don’t encounter.’
Because the big cat was spotted half an hour before the first game began – and she only lingered for 10 minutes – nobody’s round was delayed.
Unsurprisingly, however, the first golfers were a little slower getting started.
Mr Rossouw said it was unusual to see a leopard playing with tee box markers
Mr Rossouw, pictured, said: ‘I’ve got elephants pushing trees over, you’ve got the hippos grazing on the fairway, there’s all these hundreds of different animals that are on the golf course every day’
The 30-year-old golfer, pictured teeing off, said many animals are seen on the course every day
Mr Rossouw said: ‘They were aware of it. I think they did take an extra 10 or 15 minutes and had another cup of coffee just to make sure that the course was clear before they played.’
For the greenkeeper, animal encounters are part of what makes his job unique. He said: ‘I’ve got elephants pushing trees over, you’ve got the hippos grazing on the fairway, there’s all these hundreds of different animals that are on the golf course every day.
‘Every single day there’s kudu, nyala, impala, giraffe, bushbuck, warthog – there’s plenty about.
‘It’s the only golf course in the world where you can possibly encounter the big five while playing golf.’
Skukuza Golf Club is open to the public as well as tourists visiting Kruger National Park.