AFTER years of seeing eagles and albatrosses being hit by people with clubs, are our feathered friends finally getting their own back on Mole Valley's golfers?
Westcott resident Jeff Davies has found hundreds of golf balls while walking his two dogs on nearby farmland over the last 18 months.
The 58-year-old estimates border collies Billy and Joe have retrieved 600 balls from one particular field at Coombe Farm, off Balchins Lane, on their weekly walks.
But as their favourite route is at least three miles from the nearest golf course, Mr Davies has been left scratching his head over how they come to be there.
The HGV driver told the Advertiser: "It is all farmland – there is no course, no private range, nothing but ploughed fields.
"I have lived here 30 years so I know the area very well. There's absolutely no chance of it being someone going there to practice – it is so isolated.
"The only possible thing I can think of is, it is birds thinking they are eggs, picking them up from golf courses and bringing them back to their rookeries."
Mr Davies, of North Street, said it was particularly mystifying as the balls are always found in the same small area, with new ones arriving every week.
"I walk in a lot of other places around here and you don't see golf balls anywhere else," he said.
"The nearest course is Effingham up at Bookham and that is a good three or four miles away as the crow flies – if you'll pardon the pun!
"Yet the concentration and the amount here is incredible and they are all practically brand new. I pick them all up and stuff them in my pockets but when I go back a few days later there are more there.
"I've never seen one drop onto the ground, and I wish I had because that would solve the mystery."
He added: "There's something very strange going on. I'm hoping someone will be able to throw some light on this for me, because it is an absolute mystery."
So is it a plot hatched by birdies? Or is someone playing a round?
The answer seems a fairway off, to putt it mildly.
Have you seen birds stealing or trying to hatch golf balls in the area? Call us on 01737 783889 or comment on this story on our website.
