[Mangoman]

Golfer Loses Arm In Gator Attack

ESPN Article Link

BEAUFORT, S.C. -- Officials say an alligator bit off part of a golfer's arm as he leaned over to pick up his ball at a private South Carolina course.

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.

A call to the golf course was not immediately returned.

[RG3rGWcA]

Horrible! Poor guy is 70 years old, golf could be the biggest thing he looks forward to. At least get a ball retriever, dang. Don't think my heart could take it at 50.

[Mangoman]

Heck, I don't think my heart could take it at 35! If I had a 10' gator come out of a pond at me, I can't imagine how many bodily functions would either cease or lose control.

[Muhabsssa]

Horrible! Poor guy is 70 years old, golf could be the biggest thing he looks forward to. At least get a ball retriever, dang. Don't think my heart could take it at 50.

Agreed! Better this than armless:

[zawhmqswly]

I might have let the gator have the ball...A few years ago there was a rash of gator attacks on joggers, does anyone else remember?

[Muhabsssa]

I might have let the gator have the ball...A few years ago there was a rash of gator attacks on joggers, does anyone else remember?

In North Dakota? Man, global warming is worse than I'd realized.

[standaman]

In North Dakota? Man, global warming is worse than I'd realized.

Actually, they were Canadian gators that had sneaked across the border.

Kevin

[smirnoffdear]

Actually, they were Canadian gators that had sneaked across the border.

Kevin

Dang! I thought it was only those Geese I had to watch out for!

[AngelinaLip]

Dang! I thought it was only those Geese I had to watch out for!

Geese are not bad. Just DON'T LOOK UP!

A guy I played with some time back told the story about an incident he had while playing in Florida. His ball landed near one of the ponds and when he went down to hit it, one of the "logs" near the edge made a huge splash and scared him witless. He got a lot more careful about approaching the edge of ponds, making sure logs were actually logs.

[Mangoman]

Yeah, there's a reason they say don't swim in any body of water where you cannot clearly see everything along the bottom in Florida. A former co-worker lost a nephew (3 yrs old) when he got too close to a retention pond by their house. Gator grabbed him by the head.

Parents didn't even know it was there, couldn't see it in the murky water.

[standaman]

Yeah, there's a reason they say don't swim in any body of water where you cannot clearly see everything along the bottom in Florida. A former co-worker lost a nephew (3 yrs old) when he got too close to a retention pond by their house. Gator grabbed him by the head.

Parents didn't even know it was there, couldn't see it in the murky water.

Isn't there some nasty amoeba in the freshwater lakes down there that's been making people really sick and/or killing them? And how about that real estate market?

Kevin