If you look up ‘marmot' on Wikipedia, it says they ‘are large squirrels.' But if you've spent any time in southwest Reno near Lakeridge Golf Course, you don't need Wikipedia .
“A marmot is a staple part of the golf course and unique,” said Kerry Husted, a Marshall at Lakeridge.
In November 2013, a windstorm brought down a 50-year-old cottonwood tree. For over a year, there was only a stump on the fourth hole, a 600 yard par 5. The Men's Club of Lakeridge Golf decided it needed a facelift. So they reached out to a Lake Tahoe artist to carve a marmot figure into the stump. There was only one problem:
"It's really a hard wood," said Husted. The solution was to cut a 6 foot, 600 lb marmot out of an old silver pine tree.
In March, crews installed the new monument.
"We had to actually had to load it up in a back hoe to get it out here on a truck, and then hoist it up onto the tree stump," said Mitch Jonas, Superintendent of the course.
“It's very nice looking," said Husted.
Golfers agree.
“When it blew over, and all that was here was the ugly stump, it didn't look very good,” said Brenda Fleiner. “We really like what they did with it.”
The Men's Club says it's a way to show their appreciation of the course, and of the new management team, Duncan Golf Management.
But why a marmot? Well if you've spent time in the area, it's clear they're practically everywhere.
“When people come in to play tournaments, they constantly say, ‘What are those things running around on the ground? And we just say, those are our local marmots,” said Husted.
