The weather during the week of Christmas is forecast to be warm enough to sneak in a round of golf.
But if playing at Marianna Butte Golf Course in west Loveland, you might be asked to skip a hole or two.
Not because of winter conditions, but because at times a large herd of elk can consume the fairway of several of the wildlife’s favorite holes.
Brook Bell, head pro at the city-owned golf course, said the herd, which can number into the hundreds, seems to prefer the front nine.
“They usually are on holes two through five and one and nine,” he said. “But we did have a herd taking up the No. 15 fairway as well a month or so ago. There seems to be no rhyme nor reason but they tend to stick to the same holes.”
The Estes Park area, including Rocky Mountain National Park, is home to about 2,000 elk. About half of those elk migrate in late fall and early winter to the west side of Loveland from Masonville on the north to Carter Lake on the south.
And just like in Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, the large elk herd draws crowds to the golf course and surrounding area.