The poor golfer in question...
Posted on 10/10/2009 7:45:01 PM PDT by kingattax
A 77-year-old man lost his arm below the elbow Thursday when he was attacked by an alligator while playing golf on Fripp Island.
The man, the father of a Fripp Island property owner, was playing the 11th hole of the island's Ocean Creek Golf Course at about 3 p.m. when the attack occurred. The victim was leaning down to pick up his ball when a 10-foot long alligator grabbed his arm, said Kate Hines, general manager of the Fripp Island Property Owners Association.
Hines said the alligator dragged the man into a nearby pond and went into a series of "death rolls," a technique the reptile uses to tear apart its food. The man lost his arm in the struggle.
The man's golf buddies were able to free him from the alligator's grasp and called 911. They kept an eye on the alligator until workers from Tracks Wildlife Control in Beaufort arrived, Hines said.
The victim, visiting family on the island, was taken to Beaufort Memorial Hospital.Tracks workers killed the alligator and performed a necropsy at the scene to remove the man's arm from the animal's digestive track, Hines said.
The arm was stored in a cooler in the hopes of re-attaching it. The victim was flown at about 5:30 p.m. to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. His condition was unknown late Thursday night.
There have been 10 confirmed alligator attacks in the past 25 years in South Carolina, according to state's Department of Natural Resources. DNR estimates that 100,000 to 200,000 American alligators live along South Carolina's coasts.
Thursday's attack could have been caused by any number of factors, said Joe Maffo, owner of Critter Management, a Hilton Head Island business specializing in alligator removal.
"It could have been a mother protecting her brood, this alligator may have been fed before by people or it could have been a dominance thing and the alligator felt he was trespassing," Maffo said. "These kinds of attacks are very, very unusual and very, very unfortunate. It's sad."
I hate it when that happens.
I believe, for that, he gets to take a stroke.
Oh this is so sad. Hope the arm could be salvaged!
Well, you really have to hand it to the fellow...
Will his handicap go up or down?
What is his handicap? Other than the obvious.
That’s a private club and they strictly enforce the rule about trying to improve the lie of your ball.
Watch that 11th hole. It’s a killer!
The last report I heard was that Obama was rushing to the hospital because he is the only man alive that can re-attach the man’s arm and also bring the gater back to life.
Crikey!
Acutally it would have been a great “learning moment”. Obama could have invited the golfer and gator to the White House for a beer.
shankapotomas
Should have taken the Mulligan instead.
This does not help his handicap.
gallow humor too early?
I have played golf in Singapore and it is clearly understood that you do not try to salvage a ball in the water.
That said; keep thinking of the koan. . .'what is the sound of one hand clapping'.
I think a custom made alligator golf bag is in order.
Yeah, like maybe the gator was hungry?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2358382/posts
Sorry, no SC ping for this. I pinged the earlier thread.
You know, I hate to ask the obvious, but how does one avoid spotting a 10 foot long alligator when bending down to pick up a golf ball? Also what kind of golf course has alligators; what else to they have running around there — pumas and grizzly bears?
Don't get around to play much golf, do you?
I've seen big (yes, 10 footers) gators in south central Florida. I've encountered foxes, coyotes, bullhead and rattle snakes, elk, and black bears in Colorado, and moose and elk in Wyoming.
All sorts of critters out there, believe me.
If that's not your cup of tea, you're undoubtedly better off finding relaxation in some other participatory sport.
CA....
That's a cute commercial
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.
Wildlife workers killed the alligator and retrieved the arm in the hopes it might be reattached.
The man has not been identified. He was being treated at the Medical University of South Carolina, but officials there would not release any information about him.
Video...
Officials from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston have yet to say whether surgeons there were successful in reattaching the arm of a 77-year-old man attacked Thursday by an alligator while playing golf on Fripp Island.
A hospital spokeswoman declined again Saturday to release information on the condition of the victim, who was flown to the hospital with his severed arm about after being bitten by a 10-foot, 400-pound alligator near a lagoon on one of the island’s two golf courses. Fripp Island officials said they were told by the man’s son that his father was in stable condition.
According to Savannah television station WTOC, the victim is 77-year-old James Wiencek. Fripp Island and hospital officials would not confirm WTOC’s report Saturday.
James Wiencek Jr., the victim’s son, owns a home on Fripp Island and is from Chagrin Falls, Ohio, according to Beaufort County property records. Messages left Saturday at the home on Fripp Island and Wiencek’s home in Chagrin Falls were not returned.
Deanna Hormell, who lives next door to the Wienceks on Fripp Island, said she was not aware that her neighbor’s father was the victim in the highly-publicized attack on the Ocean Creek golf course Thursday.
Witnesses say the victim was on the 11th hole Thursday when he knelt down to pick up his ball and was attacked by the reptile, which dragged him by his arm into a nearby pond. The victim lost his arm below the elbow in the struggle.
Wildlife officials were able to kill the alligator and remove the arm from its stomach. Paramedics from Beaufort County EMS then packed the limb in ice.
Wildlife officials are still unsure what prompted the attack, but a Fripp Island spokeswoman said Friday that the reptile may have been fed by humans in the past.
Doctors at MUSC were unable to re-attach the arm of 59-year-old Bill Hedden, who was attacked by a 12-foot, 600-pound alligator while snorkeling in Lake Moultrie in September 2007. Hedden’s left arm was also retrieved from the belly of the alligator after the reptile was shot and killed by wildlife officials.
No one in South Carolina has ever been killed by an alligator, according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/996623.html
That’s bull. Unless you are playing in the club championship, no club is going to get upset at you for taking a free drop to avoid a gator. The USGA rules are one thing. Common sense is another, and in any foursome I play in, common sense wins.
Another human tragedy, another thread of tasteless “jokes” at the victim’s expense. Sheesh.
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