Lightning strikes green

[Matthew Rose]

This is unreal.... the pattern left behind looks exactly like what you see in the sky!

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/recreation/golf/article_7663763e-a0fd-11e0-9b52-001cc4c002e0.html

[Richard Choi]

So, what happened to Bishop Pickering?

[Ronald Montesano]

never got to finish the best round of his life is my guess...rat farts.

[Bruce Leland]

So, what happened to Bishop Pickering?

He got nothing and liked it.

[Bill Brightly]

For any of the superintendents out there: won't the grass die on the green where there strike occured?

[Scott Furlong]

No it will be fine. 

[Bruce Hospes]

This happened at my course last week. I would post a picture of it but am trying to figure out the new MacBook.  Any pointers?

Bruce

[Roger Wolfe]

Last week we had a lightning strike on one of our big trees close to a bunker on ten fairway.  The lightning apparently
arc'd down into the ground and blew up an irrigation pipe that ran close to the bunker.  My superintendent drove in
the next morning to a 60 foot geyser.  Very bizarre and the first I had ever heard of this happening.

[Doug Siebert]

Lightning struck a big oak on my home course sometime in March before the course opened.  There was a neat facebook picture but I can't find it now.  When I played my first round of the year a couple weeks later there were shards of wood from several inches to a foot or two long all around where the tree stood for 60-70 yards in every direction.

Apparently the lightning hit it directly and made a good enough connection that the heat caused all the water inside the tree to be instantly converted into steam and the tree essentially exploded.  I've heard of that happening but had never seen it and didn't realize it happened with enough force to spread such large (and probably deadly) pieces of wood shrapnel over such a wide area.  Nevermind not taking shelter under the tree getting hit, even a tree way over on the other side of the teebox wouldn't have been safe!

[Brett Morris]

I had a bolt hit our 9th fairway about 6 months ago after a storm moved through.  End result was 1 metre of pipe gone, every sprinkler head surrounding the bolt had blown solenoids and the nearest satellite had surge protection damage.  The surge then found its way into the communication cable which finished back in my office where it arced.  There was no lightening around before hand to warn us either as we don't have any detection system.  This strike was about 50 metres from the 1st green where golfers were putting out at the time.  Certainly shook a few of them up.  Be careful when there are storms around.



There is also a 3 metre crocodile in that pond in the background hence the warning sign 

[Evan Fleisher]

Lightning struck a big oak on my home course sometime in March before the course opened.  There was a neat facebook picture but I can't find it now.  When I played my first round of the year a couple weeks later there were shards of wood from several inches to a foot or two long all around where the tree stood for 60-70 yards in every direction.

Apparently the lightning hit it directly and made a good enough connection that the heat caused all the water inside the tree to be instantly converted into steam and the tree essentially exploded.  I've heard of that happening but had never seen it and didn't realize it happened with enough force to spread such large (and probably deadly) pieces of wood shrapnel over such a wide area.  Nevermind not taking shelter under the tree getting hit, even a tree way over on the other side of the teebox wouldn't have been safe!

Not golf course related, but while living in Miami as a youngster, a large royal palm in our neighbor's yard was struck by lightning while my Mom, brother and I were standing close by (scared the shit! out of us).  After the strike that tree did the same thing...basically exploded (they are full of water) and was raining down palm frons (sp?) and pieces of the trunk.  Afterwards, the poor thing looked like a #2 pencil.

[MikeJones]

Proof that there is a God and he likes hitting greens in regulation..