British Open 2023: Third round at Royal Liverpool briefly delayed by … a toad
Royal Liverpool has done little to slow down players so far Saturday morning.
The Natterjack toad, however, is a different story.
During the early third-round action at this Open Championship, a small Natterjack, which are protected by British law, made its way onto the 13th green, delaying play as course staff worked to safely remove the toad. The Natterjacks, the U.K.’s loudest amphibian per The Wildlife Trust, are native to sand dunes and saltmarshes along the northwest coast of England, and recently new breeding pools have been created along Liverpool’s surrounding coast.
According to law, only trained specialists can handle removing the toads; it is illegal for unlicensed persons to handle them. In this case, that specialist was Hoylake manager James Bledge.
After a brief delay, the toad was removed, and play hopped along.