South Carolina golfer David Ksieniewicz was playing at Okatie’s Spring Island Club on Monday when he hit his ball and it landed on the back of a 7-foot alligator bathing in the sun.
While the rule is to play the ball “as it lies,” the golfer made a wise choice to leave the golf ball on the lounging gator and not take the risk of it biting him.
As opposed to many other golfers who may try to get the ball back, David applied the official U.S. Golf Association rule 16.2(a) for “abnormal course conditions.”
This rule states that instead of playing the ball where it lies, a golfer can continue playing by dropping a ball in a relief area based on the nearest point of complete relief if they are near “dangerous animals” and their presence next to the ball could cause serious physical injury to them.Â
“Which is good, because we determined that my dad should probably consider this dangerously shanked shot unplayable and start over,” Kristine Robinson said to ABC News.
Choosing safety over getting the ball back was probably the best choice. He and the alligator are both safe, and David was able to enjoy the rest of his golfing session.