YELLOWKNIFE - On a lazy Sunday afternoon, most people would rather be anywhere other than work.

If you have to be on duty on the day of rest, however, there are probably worse places to be than at the golf course.

Pro shop staffers Jody Archibald and Doug Keating didn't mind the business last weekend, both saying Sunday wasn't a busy day, despite the second day of Petersen Auger Coca-Cola Classic tournament.

Golf is after all a fairly relaxing sport -- unless, of course, you happen to get a ball in the head.

"He was pretty good about it," said Archibald of the unfortunate golfer who was the victim of a ball dropped by a raven. The bird showed off its spectacular aim one afternoon a couple of weeks ago while the man was standing on the 14th tee box.

Archibald said the man didn't appear to be too angry when he came into the pro shop with an ice pack on his head.

The driving range outside the shop is heavily dotted with hundreds of golf balls from any given day's practise hitters.

Keating showed Yellowknifer the ATV, fitted with an attachment covered in slotted rubber wheels and baskets, which makes cleaning the driving range no more arduous than mowing the lawn. Of course, unlike your lawn, the range has to be given the once over every single night after close, so that a certain bit of Yk wildlife doesn't have all-night access to extra ammunition.

Especially considering the ravens tend to stockpile balls, moving them to strategic places about town.

Keating said he heard the caretakers at the NorthwesTel building once brought back a sizeable bucket of balls they collected from the building's roof last year.

So if you're a frugal golfer, get out that climbing gear - you could be in for free balls. Keating's job has also given him some insight into the habits of the city's golf community.

"I know where everyone slices their balls on this course," said Keating, adding that a person could collect a lot of balls pretty quickly just by walking into the right patches of bush.

The club, however, asks generous golfers to donate balls they find on the course for junior golfers to use.

They keep a big jar in the pro shop for donations.