Please pass this along to your golfing buddies. Before opening please read!

I have been a police officer for 18 yrs and have seen a lot of gruesome and disturbing scenes (if you can imagine it I have probably seen a variation of it)….this one was different because it hits close to home and some of us have been in this situation.

This 75 year old golfer (no pictures of him) was golfing with 3 other retired guys in a regular weekly tee time and the weather forcast never even predicted rain at 10pm the night before.

They teed off and got around to the back nine when it started to rain …then a little lightning way off in the distance so they headed in and waited under a tree half way in when the rain became very heavy. Three of them then continued in but one guy decided to wait it out under a 50'pine with an overhang of 10' standing next to his bag.

A lightning bolt minutes later struck his bag and push cart as he was holding onto one of his clubs killing him instantly…on the top of the first photo you will see what was left of his driver….also in a later photo are little brown clumps now only ¼" thick which used to be golf balls….The old man was literally cooked. Most of the items in the bag simply desinigrated from the heat and intense initial zap including the labels to his ping irons and Cleveland woods which popped off and the electricity burned holes into the bottoms of the clubs. The strange thing is the tree under which he was standing had no sign of a lightning strike.The bolt literally went sideways under the tree to the golf clubs..

LESSONS:If you are caught out on the course or water…distance yourself from anything metal OR graphite.Did you know that lightning rods are often made of graphite? Put your cart 50' away from you! …When you see lightning off in the distance GO IN IMMEDIATELY !!! DON'T WAIT !!!

Oh my god! I don't see how anyone could survive a lightning stirke after those photos!

Anytime I see lightning I am going to the clubhouse or just flat out to the house. I love to play as much as anyone, but not enough to risk my life.

The loss of a life is a terrible thing.
Every Pro shop should post these images to remind us just how powerful, deadly and indiscriminent nature can be.

wow...mind if i share these pics with other boards? since it's a public warning of sorts? why are they watermarked at all?

THX for the reminder.
Sad that it happened.

on Saturday afternoon/eve i was caught in an intense thunderstorm while on the 17th hole. it was literally the most insane lightning storm i've ever witnessed, let alone be in the middle of - constant lightning and thunder for 35 straight minutes (no breaks whatsoever). sheets of rain too.

my threesome and 4 others on nearby holes took shelter in a well grounded lightning shelter. the shelter was hit at least 5 times while we were there - one of the scariest moments in my life.

when the storm passed we continued in and saw several sprinklers going off randomly, apparently having been triggered by lightning strikes.

i so often see people continuing to play when it doesn't seem like the lightning/thunder is nearby but i don't mess around cause some of these storms can be right on top of you in a minute.

Truer and wiser words can not be spoken.

A month ago I was out getting in an afternoon round with a friend. We were watching a thunderstorm come towards us, watching lightning strikes and hearing thunder several miles in the distance. With my friend taking practice swings on an elevated par 3 tee and myself reaching in my bag for a four iron, I saw a flash of light as if someone took a picture.

Before my brain could process what had happened, I heard the loudest crack of thunder I ever heard in my life. Needless to say we called it an afternoon and I soon purchased a personal lightning detector.

Those pictures are all too chilling a reminder of how deadly lightning can be.

That's horrible, poor guy.

Doesn't it sound a little bs though? It starts with the guy telling it being a cop, then he's under an overhang, the lightning strikes sideways. The clubs in the pics look rusted, bent, and covered with debris like they've been underwater. Sure, it could be true and has probably happened, but these pics and the story seem to be more of a old wifes tale than truth. ... I'll probably be struck next time I go out.

Lightning is no joke....I worked in Southern FLA for the better part of 9 years and have seen more than my fair share of lightning.

Just remember golf will be there tomorrow and the next day, and even the day after that. But if you get popped by a piece of lightning you might not be. It is just not worth it. When you hear the horns, or some thunder or see some bolts. Head in and seek shelter. There is a reason why there are so many warnings, etc.....

Shoot I don't even like playing in the rain, let alone dodging some bolts of electricity.

DG

Why don't you google "odana hills golfer killed by lightning" as see what pops up.

This is my home course. I didn't know the golfer but I waited out storms in that very area. And that is the point of this. I will never wait it out again.

BTW, the body was discovered about twenty minutes after the strike. It was found by a couple of kids and it was still burning.

It does sound like it could be one of those stories crafted just for the internet but.......

http://www.channel3000.com/news/13983590/detail.html

.....it's not. Sad.