Golf fans may well be expecting to see a birdie or an eagle at the Open this week, but it would be hard to beat Fearnley the tawny eagle who has been drafted in by the R&A to keep gulls away from the food court.
The scavengers have presented problems at previous Open tournaments and organisers have struggled to find a solution.
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Fearnley and his handler, Barry Blyther of Elite Falconry, were asked to step in at St Andrews in 2015 and soon made short work of the gulls.
“It was a resounding success and we remain employed by the R&A to scare gulls away,” said Barry.
“People are very interested in what we do at the Open, but we are not an attraction.
“We’re very much here to do a job, although we are happy to chat to people and pose for photographs if we can.”
