PC-GUY
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Golfer's shot lands in unlikely spot - a gator's tail BY ERIN WALSH, The Island Packet
Published Thursday, April 21st, 2005
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.
"It beats me," Parris said. "It must have rolled on him. If it landed on him, he would've moved, I guess."
The most likely and scientifically compelling reason the alligator didn't move is because it probably didn't feel the ball, said Dean Harrigal, wildlife biologist for S.C. Department of Natural Resources. He said the top side of an alligator, including the tail and back, is made of hard, bony plates that provide protection, and there are few nerve endings on the surface.
"If it would have been a bowling ball," Harrigal said, "he might have felt it."
Island Packet Online
Published Thursday, April 21st, 2005
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.
"It beats me," Parris said. "It must have rolled on him. If it landed on him, he would've moved, I guess."
The most likely and scientifically compelling reason the alligator didn't move is because it probably didn't feel the ball, said Dean Harrigal, wildlife biologist for S.C. Department of Natural Resources. He said the top side of an alligator, including the tail and back, is made of hard, bony plates that provide protection, and there are few nerve endings on the surface.
"If it would have been a bowling ball," Harrigal said, "he might have felt it."
Island Packet Online
