How's this for a tough hazard on a golf course!
The Hootie tournament turned hysterical today. The event took a madcap turn when tournament mascot “Titleist” the bull got loose from his tether near the sixteenth green and roamed around the golf course for twenty minutes.
“Apparently he got stung by a wasp right on the nose” said spectator Mike Adams. “He was fine and then all of a sudden he was rubbing his nose on the ground and on the tree where he’s tied and rolling around snorting. He is normally totally mild-mannered and tame, but he just got agitated when he got stung.” Scoring official Bobby Wilson saw the whole thing unfold. “One minute Titleist was fine and the next he was haulin’ ass down the fairway dragging his tethering chain behind him.”
Chase Duncan, a sophomore finance major from N.C. State met Titleist up close and personal. “I was lining up a nine inch putt for par on 17 and my playing partner, Mark Silvers from South Carolina said ‘Holy s—!’ I looked up and it’s running over the hill, about a hundred yards away from us and closing fast. So we start walking slowly in the opposite direction, but the bull made eye contact with me. I just saw the movie ‘Jackass Number 2’ where Johnny Knoxville gets knocked into next week by a bull and here I am with no rodeo clown or gate to jump over. All I remember next was thinking about those massive horns, so I bolted” he explains in between laughs. “Thankfully the bull slowed down and turned away into the woods. Now I still have a nine inch putt and I’m still petrified. I never shook over a nine inch putt like that in my life” he finishes with a grin.
Silvers was equally incredulous over the ridiculousness of the situation. “My girlfriend is here with me. While Chase was putting, I saw the bull running loose and pointed it out to her, laughing. Then I putted and made my putt” he continued. “When I took my ball out of the hole, I looked up and suddenly he’s coming right at us and here I am in a red shirt! I’m a prime target. We ran. It kept getting closer and closer, it’s a freakin’ bull and it’s huge!” he said, grabbing his sides laughing as he later explained the situation in the clubhouse. “At least I made my birdie.” The sophomore from Savannah, Georgia studying finance shot 2-over 73 with an 8 on the par-5 13th. “I hit a tree and it went in the hazard and I couldn’t get it out. But I finished with two birdies, one after having my life flash before my eyes. Golf didn’t seem quite so serious after that.”
“It was hysterical” giggled spectator Sarah Gondrin. “I never saw golfers move so fast in my life. They scrambled like rabbits and scattered like ants!” she said, breathless with laughter. “Yeah, golfers became track stars real quick” joked Bobby Wilson.
The bull then led everyone on a merry chase, tromping all over the front nine before getting cornered by tournament staff on the eighth fairway. “That’s about the eighth time he’s gotten loose” said one Golfstats scorer turned ersatz animal handler. “It happens all the time. But Titleist is completely docile. He loves people and being ridden, so it’s fine. Besides, the winner has to ride him in order to collect his trophy.” Titleist got one of the biggest ovations of the day from the gallery as he was led back to his post near the sixteenth green. The bull had no comment.
I'll post pics tomorrow