Sedona’s Spicy Turf Tale: Chili Oil, Golfers, and Javelinas in a Heated Dance
SEDONA, AZ, October 25, 2023 — Picture this: The serene greens of Seven Canyons Golf Club in Sedona, Arizona, turning into an unexpected arena where golfers and javelinas (peccary) play a game of turf war. This year, the narrative at this golf club is less about birdies and bogies, and more about a wild, spicy encounter.
As the mercury shot up, breaking the norms of a typical Sedona summer, a herd of javelinas found their way to the cool and lush greens, causing a turf turmoil like no other. Now, this isn’t the first time the club has had a rendezvous with javelinas, but this year, it’s a whole different ball game, thanks to the soaring temperatures and the scarce raindrops falling from the Sedona sky.
Dave Bisbee, the general manager of Seven Canyons, paints a picture of the turf tussle that began six weeks ago. Imagine a gang of javelinas, marching from all directions, feasting on the greens at eight different spots. And the golf club? They initially tried using coyote urine granules, but let’s just say it backfired, making the scene a tad wilder.
Now enter chili oil, the unanticipated hero of this saga. As Bisbee amusingly puts it, “Even though they’re Southwest animals, they don’t like Southwest seasoning.” It appears chili oil is not just for jazzing up your tacos, but also for keeping javelinas at an arm’s length from the golf course. The club is now in cahoots with suppliers to get a concentrated version of this fiery liquid, hoping to concoct a spray that’ll keep the javelinas at bay, at least until the temperatures decide to chill a bit.
And oh, it’s not a lonely battle for Seven Canyons. They’ve got allies in the Arizona Game & Fish Department, working the brain gears to find a sustainable way to coexist with these wild guests. The golf course isn’t dealing with just a handful of javelinas; we’re talking 30 to 50 squadrons, a term that suddenly makes this scene sound like a wildlife blockbuster.
The plot thickened when Emily Casey, the assistant superintendent of the club, shared a video showing the extent of the javelina jamboree, which promptly went viral, racking up over 25 million eyeballs over the weekend. It’s not just a quirky wildlife tango, but a story that’s got the internet talking about the climate change cha-cha.
Looking back, a similar scene unfolded five years ago following a hot, dry summer. It’s like a déjà vu with a warning label, hinting at a pattern that might just be a recurring act with rising temperatures in the play.
The folks at Seven Canyons, along with the community, are adding a dash of humor, a sprinkle of collaboration, and a big splash of culinary creativity to this wild narrative. The chili oil tactic is their spicy twist to the tale, hoping it brings a temporary truce to the turf war till cooler days roll in.
So, as the sun continues to blaze down on Sedona, the golfers, and the spirited javelinas, it’s a wait with a whimsical, spicy undertone. The greens are now a stage where golf meets wilderness, with a side of chili zest, as they all wait for Mother Nature to cue the cool.