“These pennant things are amazing! The geese are actually afraid of them,” cites golf pro, Dick Stewart, of the Kalamazoo Country Club who, along with the golf course superintendent, John Fulling, has tried “everything” to deter geese from making a mess of the 12th tee and green and the 13th tee. This Michigan country club has an extensive shoreline on a small urban lake where the geese have taken on their own dues-free membership on the beautiful and well-maintained grounds.
According to Fulling, the 100-year-old club has tried wires and shiny ground-hugging ribbons as well as dogs and much more, without much success (the dogs are effective but invariably become “pets” of the members and eventually lose interest in chasing birds). For the past five weeks Consort has helped the club with a test using four of their Dori Pole Pennants spaced about 80 yards apart along the shore, but strategically positioned to be out of range of golf shots. The 20’ high, 15’ long pennants float in the prevailing breeze and make the geese uncomfortable, as though a larger bird of prey were swooping around.
“The effect is uncanny”, says Stewart. “But, in those rare times when there is no breeze at all the geese start to move onto shore and trot right back up to the green and tees. Fortunately, we get enough wind that the pennants are probably at least 80% effective”.
John Fulling is encouraged and hopeful that the birds won’t get “used-to” the pennants and just ignore them after awhile. “But, even if they do, we can put them out and take them in for special events and tournaments and I suspect they’d work well for that. We’ll just have to see but currently, the news is all good!”
The country club already owned six Dori Poles with the club colors which they have periodically put up through the year for outdoor special celebrations including the annual “Invitational Tournament” and the February Winter Carnival, among other events. The tall pennants are also an income stream as they can rent them for the many outdoor weddings, where the bridal couple can choose special color pennants.
If you know of a golf course that would like to try Dori Poles for bird control or for outdoor display, please refer them to our Dori Pole website, doripole.com. Also, view our Dori Pole and bird deterrent videos.
