Gator bites golf ball diver - Florida

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DandyDon

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Florida man diving for golf balls attacked by alligator
WESTON, Fla., July 23 (UPI) --
A country club worker in Florida was bitten by an alligator while attempting to retrieve errant golf balls from the bottom of a lake Wednesday.
Steven Martinez was sent to scuba dive for balls lost in a lake at Bonaventure Country Club in Weston, Fla., when he was attacked by an alligator, getting bitten in the hand before escaping to seek help.
Witnesses say the alligator was very aggressive and, despite retreating after the initial bite, continued to chase after Martinez as he attempted to flea. Bonaventure Country Club manager Randy Weber told CBS Miami the alligator was between eight and 9 1/2 feet long.
Martinez, an employee at used golf ball outlet Birdie Golf, was able to drive a golf cart to the main course where two men called paramedics, who subsequently took Martinez to the hospital. His condition remains unknown.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have caught the rouge gator.
They got him! Trappers catch gator who bit man's hand as he was diving for golf balls. Victim has superficial wounds pic.twitter.com/Rw8UUd7u7T— Gilma Avalos (@GilmaNBC6) July 23, 2014
 

Bitten on the hand. . . I think I've heard that backstory before. . .
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I dove with a lady who had the contracts with several golf courses in Orlando, Florida in 1970. She said I was the only diver who had lasted a whole day with her, probably because I was from Oregon and more used to diving in very poor visibility. The ponds had gators, poisonous snakes and snapping turtles, but she said the worst dive she experienced was when she surfaced while a golfer was in the middle of his swing, about twenty feet away. The golfer clipped the ball, which took two bounces and landed in the water near my buddy. Within about a tenth of a second, a golf club was winging its way in her direction, so she took a quick surface dive, then stayed on the bottom another half an hour. By the time she surfaced, the angry golfer had continued his ruined game and was away down the course. She continued to be a professional diving golf ball hawk, and won the contract for Walt Disney World shortly thereafter, from what I heard. She never did get bitten by a 'gator though.

SeaRat
 
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