SHARKS IN THE ROUGH
GREG Norman was just a baby shark when he first walked around the Coolangatta and Tweed Heads Golf Club and now there are two new predatory fish patrolling the course.
Two baby sharks have been spotted in the ponds between the sixth and seventh hole.
Club vice-captain and course ranger Peter Francis said he spotted the sharks six feet from the edge of the course where Greg Norman – the Great White Shark – won the 1986 Queensland Open.
“My research, which could be completely out, suggests they were leopard sharks about two feet long and there were two of them,” Mr Francis said. “You could see them and it was obvious they were sharks.”
Mr Francis said the ponds along the course are tidal, with drains running directly into the Tweed River.
“The grates block the rubbish coming in so we end up with mullet swimming in and getting too big to swim back out,” he said.
“The sharks must have come in, have been there for a while and are now too big to get out.”
They are now trapped in a pond about the size of 10 suburban swimming pools.
“If we don’t see the mullet jumping then we know the sharks have eaten all of them,” Mr Francis said.
Club captain Andrew Boulter, a former golf pro, used to work at the Carbook club near Brisbane, which is famous for its bullshark in the water hazard.
He said he would like Coolangatta and Tweed Heads Gold Club to use its new sharks to attract more players.
“If we get photos of them we could host shark days and decide on a name for them,” he said. “The videos of sharks in the ponds at Carbrook went viral.”
He said they would consider putting up a sign alerting people sharks were in the water and to be careful when retrieving their balls.
“We will have divers come and get the balls out in a couple of months so we will have to warn them about the sharks too,” he said.