Golfer's Ball Lands On Alligator's Tail

[matcom]

<snip>

Talk about hitting into the rough.

A local golfer recently landed his ball in one of the more difficult lies of his golfing career -- smack dab in the middle of an alligator's tail.

"It was a great thing," said Mike Rothermund, 74, a resident of Port Royal Plantation who is part of a trio that golfs together twice a week. "I've been playing golf for about 55 years and I've seen a lot of crazy things, but never anything like this."
The golfers -- Harold Parris, Rothermund and Tom Lindon -- arrived at the par-3 12th hole shortly before noon one day, and it was Parris' turn to tee off first, said Lindon, 77, a resident of Sea Pines.

There were two alligators near the green on Robber's Row golf course when Parris, who happened to be golfing without his glasses that day, teed off. The ball bounced once about 2 feet before landing directly on one of the reptiles' tails, Lindon said.

"Unbelievable," Lindon said with a laugh. "It was one of the funniest things I had ever seen. The alligator didn't move an inch."

When Parris saw where the ball landed, he wasn't tempted to remove it from the gator's tail. He put down a new ball and, in compliance with course rules, wasn't penalized a stroke for the drop.

"To us," Lindon said, "that was a lucky shot, and in no way would we penalize him for that." Why the alligator didn't move when the ball landed on its tail is open to debate.

http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/4793764p-4412247c.html

[liberal N proud]

1. Play Through!

[mrbill]

2. the rules will allow a clublength drop......

or you cab hit it off the alligator....

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. Why the alligator didn't move

is open to debate? Oh please, alligators are extremely lazy animals. You'd have to hit the gator with something a lot bigger then a golf ball to get him to give up a good basking spot. I am surprised when the humans showed up that the one gator continued to sit there. Not a good sign because it means that someone has been feeding them and it makes them a much more dangerous animal has a result.

I have gators in my backyard everyday, so I have a lot of experience with these animals.

[Zuni]

4. It is great that people risk their lives to play the game of golf

I would not play any sports where vicious animals regularly roam the field

[mrbill]

5. golf in west texas is fun.....

they hang dead rattle snakes on the out of bounds fences. you learn to keep it in the fairway and keep your eyes open and watch where you step.

[11 Bravo]

6. Years ago I was playing the Shipyard Plantation course

at Hilton Head, and I put a ball about 6 inches in front of a gator's nose. I thought about trying to fish it away with my ball retriever, but as soon as I got within about 10 feet, the gator just slowly opened his mouth. That's all he did, no other movement at all, but I decided he could keep my Titleist.