Lightning Strikes Connecticut golf course--3 hospitalized

[TN94z]

When I first read the title about the lightning strike, the first thing I thought about was how people do not get off the course when a storm is coming in.  I have seen this so many times at my course.  When the horn is sounded, the golfers get mad and refuse to come in.  Once I read the article, I realized that these guys were trying to get ready for the tournament.  It's hard to say without more info whether or not they were pushing their luck or it just came up so fast.  15 impacted!  Wow, what a strike!

Quote:

At least three people were hospitalized, and 15 were "impacted" by an early Monday morning lightning strike at the Lake of Isles golf course in North Stonington, Conn.

According to the Hartford Courant , employees were on the course removing water from the greens to prepare for a tournament scheduled for today when the lightning struck. Course manager Archie Cart told the Courant that no one was directly struck by lightning, but that as many as 15 people felt the nearby strike. Emergency crews arrived on the scene around 9:30 a.m., transporting at least three people to the William W. Backus hospital in Norwich.

Lake of Isles is part of the Foxwoods Casino resort. The Arizona-based Troon Company owns the course itself, while the Mashantucket Pequot tribe owns the property where it is located.

So that begs the question, do you run for cover when a storm is brewing or do you try to tough it out?

[eich41]

Originally Posted by TN94z

When I first read the title about the lightning strike, the first thing I thought about was how people do not get off the course when a storm is coming in.  I have seen this so many times at my course.  When the horn is sounded, the golfers get mad and refuse to come in.  Once I read the article, I realized that these guys were trying to get ready for the tournament.  It's hard to say without more info whether or not they were pushing their luck or it just came up so fast.  15 impacted!  Wow, what a strike!

So that begs the question, do you run for cover when a storm is brewing or do you try to tough it out?

I don't run for cover, I pull out my 1 iron, walk to the highest point in the middle of the fairway, and hold the 1 iron over my head.  Not even God can hit a 1 iron.

[Mattplusness]

I don't think the heavy stuff's gonna come down for a while...

[TN94z]

Originally Posted by Mattplusness

I don't think the heavy stuff's gonna come down for a while...

Famous last words...haha!

We have plenty of time to finish this nine before the bad stuff gets here

[caniac6]

If I hear thunder, I'm gone.Not worth fooling around with.

[dsc123]

I was playing Sunday afternoon when a storm rolled through.  Cleared the course pretty quick; we never would have finished 18 otherwise!

Kidding aside, it was not smart.  Particularly since my playing parter's pro is wheelchair bound from a lightning strike a few years back.

[Gresh24]

Had a close call very early in my golf career, and never messed with lightning again.  As a storm was blowing up on a buddy and I, a bolt of lightning struck a tree just off the fairway we were in, not more than 75 yards away from us.  Split the tree (a BIG one) right in two.  We could feel it from where we were at.

[Doodaddy]

I once dated a girl whose parents met because her father was struck by lightning and her mother was his nurse. There could be an upside!

[Beachcomber]

Move to SoCal.  What's lightning?

[phillyk]

In the PNW, we rarely have lightning, but one day a storm came from the middle of nowhere, and I'm seeing flashes behind me while I'm working pro-shop.  I thought it was a camera flash, but once I heard the rumble, I grabbed an air horn that we use for shotgun starts and sounded the alarm (we don't have an alarm system, b/c of the rarity of lightning).  After that strike, a flash flood rain came pouring down with strong winds and I had the honor of driving out to get people and bring them in, if they were walking.  Needless to say, I was soaked, but the funny thing was, is that my pants looked like I did the opposite of wetting myself, very attractive.

[Spyder]

I pack up and leave at the sight of the black clouds. Regardless of how fast the storm is moving in, you always have time to prepare by simply watching the weather and occasionally looking up at the sky wouldn't hurt either. You can clearly see the clouds rolling in. Sometimes people are way too stubborn though and think the nice dark blue clouds with flashes of light in them are just a gimmick or something.

You see storm clouds and you hear thunder before it is directly on top of you. I hate when I hear people at the course like this:

Guy A: Yep, I hear some thunder out there....

Guy B: Yeah but there's no lightning strikes out there

Ummm.... what the hell do you think thunder is the product of? If you can hear thunder, you're already in danger - regardless of whether or not you are witnessing the flashes.

The same thing boggles my mind with trailer parks in the mid-west. Your home is on wheels and you live in "Tornado Alley" - how can you tell the weather/news caster that you "...never saw it coming"? Just move your ass out of the way. Again with Hurricane Katrina, people were specifically told to leave. You had people on the news saying "I've been here for years, I am not damn leaving, this is my house and my yard!". Just hours later they're begging for help on the roof of their house waving down rescue choppers and crying.

Sorry for the long rant, these common sense things just kill me. I'm not sure how some people make it around in their daily lives without losing limbs or hurting others - i.e: the type of people that would golf through a thunderstorm.

[Chris Stewart]

I haven't encountered that just yet, but I'd be on my way out as soon as I heard thunder. As much as I enjoy playing golf, there's always next weekend.

[jamo]

I drove right through that thunderstorm Monday morning in my car in Massachusetts. It was brutal. If it was half as powerful in CT as it was in MA I can't even imagine being stuck outside.

[DocWu1948]

Most of the time, I have no choice in the matter. Many of the municipal and private courses in the  metro areas  of Illinois have lightning sensors and will sound a warning to force you off the course, often  before you even feel rain drops. Better to come in and wait it out. Isolated storms rarely last more than 30 minutes. The bad days where it is forecast to boom for hours, someone in the group will cancel.

[shockingslicer]

as lee trevino said "if theres lightning just hold up a one iron , even god cant hit one of those"

[caniac6]

Originally Posted by shockingslicer

as lee trevino said "if theres lightning just hold up a one iron , even god cant hit one of those"

Lee was struck by lightning, so I would bet he wouldn't be holding up that one iron anymore.

[BWChuck]

I was with a few family members fishing off a boat one time as a storm began to roll in, when a guy (not from thunderstorm country) all a sudden says "hey guys, check this out!,"  as he put his index finger about 6 inches from his graphite rod (sticking straight up) to show us the continuous blue arc flash between his finger and the rod.  He just thought it was the greatest thing he'd ever seen.  We tackled him immediately and got off the water safely.

I've been very cautious of thunderstorms since, and although I still enjoy them, you won't catch me enjoying them on a golf course.

[Kieran123]

Depends how I'm playing. If I'm playing bad enough, I kinda hope I get struck.