Every golf fan has seen Happy Gilmore at least once. You clearly remember, the descriptive moment when Chubbs, the instructor trying to help Adam Sandler's character become a better golfer, describes how he lost his hand. He explains the situation, taps the glass jar with the alligator's eye in it only to have Happy explain, in fewer words, that carrying around the eye of the animal that bit off your arm is pretty strange. Well, sometimes, movies become real life, and in South Carolina, that was very much the case.
An unidentified golfer went to retrieve a golf ball from a pond, and encountered one of those nasty beasts. The alligator got away with the man's arm but, with Chubbs smiling from some unreal heaven above, the gator was killed.
The man, who is in his 70s, was retrieving his ball from a pond when the 10-foot alligator bit him at Ocean Creek Golf Course in Beaufort County. The gator pulled the golfer into the pond and ripped off his arm in the struggle. His golf partners were able to free him.You can say what you want about golf, but the sport is dangerous. Alligators, rattlesnakes and 10,000 foot crevasses are everywhere, not to mention the occasional flying golf club or a fiery playing partner hitting you in the hand with his 2-iron (Sorry Will).
Wildlife workers killed the alligator and retrieved the arm in the hopes it might be reattached.
The man is said to be fine for now, but I think we can all learn an important lesson here -- if you hit your golf ball in a pond, that may or may not have alligators, just leave the damn Titleist. It ain't worth it.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 10)
10-09-2009 @ 5:57PM
jay said...
WHY WOULD THEY KILL THE ALLIGATOR? WHAT KIND OF DUMB OLD MAN WOULD GO DOWN AND PUT HIS ARM CLOSE TO AN ALLIGATOR'S AREA? THE ALLIGATOR ACTED NATURALLY, THE OLD MAN IS A FOOL. KILLER SHARKS? KILLER GATORS? DON'T GO WHERE THEY SWIM!
Reply
10-09-2009 @ 9:28PM
raymond said...
shut up.....people like you are a waist of air....
10-09-2009 @ 10:55PM
mickey said...
Why would they have freakin gators in a golf course pond anyway. Why
don't you just put plastic explosives in the ball washers.
10-10-2009 @ 4:48AM
pnut166 said...
I wasn`t aware that golf courses were an alligator`s natural habitat. I guess next you`ll tell us that rattlesnakes love bowling! I`m guessing if a gator grabbed YOU or a loved one at a park or golf course, you`d be singing a different tune. So stop being a douche.
10-10-2009 @ 6:21AM
ANGELA said...
You're blaming the old man. Who's to say he knew there were alligators in the pond? And if that happened to you--if we had to kill the gator to free you--you would oppose?!
10-10-2009 @ 6:58AM
LARRY said...
They killed the gator to get the arm out .
10-10-2009 @ 7:29AM
Gib said...
Jay, I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and guess that you're kidding. Otherwise, you are a moron. Perhaps a gator ate your brain.
10-10-2009 @ 8:27AM
William Wallace said...
They killed the alligator so they could get the arm back! Besides, who gives a crap about some stupid pea-brain reptile.
10-10-2009 @ 10:47AM
King David said...
I've lost my ass on the golf course, but losing an arm!!! Jeeze!! I hope he will be all right. I'd have to deal with the golf course about why a 10 foot alligator was running living there - think how it got to be 10 feet!!
By the way Raymond, the proper spelling of the word that you want to attack the poster with is WASTE!!
10-10-2009 @ 11:05AM
littlepowerbit said...
you're right, they probably wouldn't have killed the alligator for the arm that he had ate. What were they thinking trying to save a man's arm? Do you really think the man intentionally put his arm in an alligator's pond? Doubtful.
10-10-2009 @ 11:36AM
hookmrl said...
wonder if the gator thought he tasted like chicken
10-10-2009 @ 11:40AM
patr728 said...
Golf courses may not be an alligator's natural habitat, but WATER is! As long as there are water traps on golf courses in states where alligators are known to live, there is a strong probability that an alligator has taken up residence in that water. We keep infringing on their 'natural habitat' so they just keep looking for a place to live. I live in Florida and golfers here know to be careful around the water.
10-10-2009 @ 7:46PM
Bob Petrone said...
What sort of management do they have at that course? Gator habitats where humans recreate?
What MORONS!!! Who gives a rats ass about a gators right to a habitat.. Especially on a freakin' golf course...
Blaming the old guy for being attacked by a gator?... How about blaming the dickheads that are in grounds management? This is an absolute outrage.... Lakes and ponds are EASILY safeguarded against this stuff.... Should NEVER have happened...
10-11-2009 @ 6:06AM
Hugh said...
I have personally seen gators in water hazards at Myrtle Beach. It's quite common. But, when I did see them, I walked away. I did NOT try to retrieve my ball from the hazard. That's why I've still got all my limbs and this gentleman doesn't. Those of you who can't understand why there are gators on the course have never played in the south. As I said, it's quite common.
10-12-2009 @ 11:47AM
wab119 said...
Jay, I agree with you. I live in a golf course community and I see these stupid golfers down by the water and I have seen huge gators in these ponds. We are invading their territory so it wasn't fair to kill the gator.
10-09-2009 @ 6:30PM
David said...
Jay, you're to stupid to explain it to you.
Reply
10-10-2009 @ 12:58AM
James said...
Is that a two stroke penalty or one?
10-10-2009 @ 8:18AM
peg said...
hey dave, people who live in florida know every body of water be it man made or natural is inhabited by alligators..it is their natural habitat..thats one of the first things they tell you when you move there and he was doing what alligators do and sharks do their thing also. why do you think they post signs in area where these predators reside? humans don't think the sign is for them..the same goes for stop signs, no turn on red, yield..you name it..people are going to do what they want and when you do you better be prepared for the consequences of your behavior.
10-10-2009 @ 9:51AM
interloper4 said...
IT WAS A "GOLF COURSE POND", STUPID... WHO IN HELL WOULD EXPECT TO FIND AN ALLIGATOR LIVING THERE? I HAVE NO QUALMS ABOUT KILLING GATORS OR SHARKS THAT PREY UPON "MAN", ESPECIALLY, SHARKS. WHO NEEDS THEM? IF NONE EXISTED... WHY WOULD THE WORLD SUFFER?
10-09-2009 @ 6:39PM
Mr. FLOWERS said...
Jay Mariotti??
Reply