Many golf courses in Florida warn players to steer clear of alligators that may be lurking in the waters.
But not all alligators are bad, as a player attending a tournament in Bonita Springs got a little help from one of the alligators lurking inside the water.
Joanne and Len Sadowsky were competing in a couples golf competition at the Bonita National Golf Club in Bonita Springs. Joanne Sadowsky went to tee off at the second hole, when she shanked the ball to the right, sending it almost certainly into one of the course’s lakes when, as Joanne claimed, an alligator “jumped up and caught” her ball that was heading into the lake.
“I shanked the ball to the right, and it was heading to the water,” she told the Naples Daily News. “It was close to the gator’s head. He saw it, jumped up and caught it.”
A photo provided to the news shows the alligator resting with the golfer’s light pink ball in its mouth.
While the Bonita Springs resident is accustomed to seeing alligators on the course, this was the first time she’s ever witnessed such an event.
“We’ve seen them with a fish or a turtle in their mouths, but never a golf ball,” she said.
However, the surreal event played into Joanne’s favor.
“It saved me from a hazard penalty,” she said, noting she earned a free drop due to the interference. She may have technically lost the ball, but because it was an outside interference, she didn’t get penalized for hitting her shot into the water.
Unfortunately, that lucky free drop wasn’t enough for her and her husband to win the tournament. Then again, when will you ever have your golf ball in an alligator’s mouth?
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