Now that's what I call a golf hazard!
Catching up on the newspaper, I came across this in the Los Angeles Times.
At Orange County golf course, birdie ... eagle ... shark
Associated Press
October 26, 2012
Nobody yelled "Fore!" at a San Juan Capistrano golf course when a 2-foot-long shark dropped out of the sky and flopped around on the 12th tee.
The 2-pound leopard shark was apparently plucked from the ocean by a bird, then dropped on San Juan Hills Golf Club, Melissa McCormack, director of club operations, said Thursday.
No one was teeing up when the shark fell Monday afternoon, although some golfers had just left the area, she said.
Baby leopard shark at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
A course marshal, who makes sure players maintain an appropriate pace, saw something moving around on the tee and went to investigate. He found the shark bleeding with puncture wounds, where it seems the bird had held it in its grasp.
The marshal put the shark in his golf cart and drove it back to the clubhouse.
"He went above and beyond," McCormack said.
The marshal, McCormack and employee Bryan Stizer wanted to help the small shark, so they put it in a bucket of water. Then somebody remembered it wasn't a fresh-water animal, so they stirred up some "homemade sea water" using sea salt from the kitchen, she said.
"We knew we had to get it to the ocean as fast as possible," McCormack said.
Stizer headed off with the shark to the ocean.
"When Brian put it in the water, it didn't move," she said, "but then it flipped and took off."
It's the first time anyone could remember a shark falling from the sky at the golf course.
"We have your typical coyotes, skunks and the occasional mountain lion, but nothing like a shark," McCormack said.
(Did anyone else read the last two sentences and picture a mountain lion falling out of the sky?)
At Orange County golf course, birdie ... eagle ... shark
Associated Press
October 26, 2012
Nobody yelled "Fore!" at a San Juan Capistrano golf course when a 2-foot-long shark dropped out of the sky and flopped around on the 12th tee.
The 2-pound leopard shark was apparently plucked from the ocean by a bird, then dropped on San Juan Hills Golf Club, Melissa McCormack, director of club operations, said Thursday.
No one was teeing up when the shark fell Monday afternoon, although some golfers had just left the area, she said.
Baby leopard shark at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
A course marshal, who makes sure players maintain an appropriate pace, saw something moving around on the tee and went to investigate. He found the shark bleeding with puncture wounds, where it seems the bird had held it in its grasp.
The marshal put the shark in his golf cart and drove it back to the clubhouse.
"He went above and beyond," McCormack said.
The marshal, McCormack and employee Bryan Stizer wanted to help the small shark, so they put it in a bucket of water. Then somebody remembered it wasn't a fresh-water animal, so they stirred up some "homemade sea water" using sea salt from the kitchen, she said.
"We knew we had to get it to the ocean as fast as possible," McCormack said.
Stizer headed off with the shark to the ocean.
"When Brian put it in the water, it didn't move," she said, "but then it flipped and took off."
It's the first time anyone could remember a shark falling from the sky at the golf course.
"We have your typical coyotes, skunks and the occasional mountain lion, but nothing like a shark," McCormack said.
(Did anyone else read the last two sentences and picture a mountain lion falling out of the sky?)