Lightning!!!

[Bravo]

We've got our highlight of the year going on this weekend...the Member-Member..

(BTW- they changed the rules for this year's event to strict ROG...play 'em all down and putt all putts into the hole).

Anyways, there's a light drizzle coming down as we tee off at 7:14. We're in the third group. My play is lackluster and my partner is worse. We finish the front side in 2:05 and tee off on the back.

They have a "Hit or Miss" deal on #10 - a 185 yard uphill par 3. Bet any amount from $25 to $200 against the pro. If you miss the green, you get the amount you wagered in pro shop credit - hit the green anywhere and you get double your wagered amount. I've bet this thing several times in the past and usually hit it on - but today I bunkered my shot....

Hit a hole in one on this hole and you choose between a Cadillac coupe, a Land Rover, an Audi convertable or a Lexus....all the cars are parked around the tee. The Golf Director's stunningly beautiful blonde daughter is there to act as a witness....

By #14, we can hear thunder and its getting damn dark. The siren goes off and we sprint back to the clubhouse area and drive our carts into the cart barn....just before the storm hits. We hit the grill for free draft beer and lunch...in the meantime - it's raining sideways and the power goes off and on four times. We can see the lightning outside....

After about 45 minutes, it clears up and we go back out to the cart barn to get our cart....the power is out because of a lightning strike and its dark as pitch in there. We drive out to the 15th tee. After we play 15, we see a tree on fire between #16 and #11. Lightning hit it squarely down the middle. As we tee off on #17, we see a small gyser of water coming up from the middle of the 18th fairway. Lightning has struck an irrigation line and broken it open...causing a creek to run right down the middle of the 18th fairway. By this time it was raining again (but no damn lightning) and we finished soaked to the bone....

It was like a freaking lightshow there for about 45 minutes....

 

[JEFF4i]

That's pretty sweet on the hit or miss deal.

Rain and lightning sucks though, but running through it is fun.

 

[WMitch6]

Running through it nekkid is more fun.

 

[MGP]

By #14, we can hear thunder and its getting damn dark. The siren goes off and we sprint back to the clubhouse area and drive our carts into the cart barn....just before the storm hits. We hit the grill for free draft beer and lunch...in the meantime - it's raining sideways and the power goes off and on four times. We can see the lightning outside....

After about 45 minutes, it clears up and we go back out to the cart barn to get our cart....the power is out because of a lightning strike and its dark as pitch in there. We drive out to the 15th tee. After we play 15, we see a tree on fire between #16 and #11. Lightning hit it squarely down the middle. As we tee off on #17, we see a small gyser of water coming up from the middle of the 18th fairway. Lightning has struck an irrigation line and broken it open...causing a creek to run right down the middle of the 18th fairway. By this time it was raining again (but no damn lightning) and we finished soaked to the bone....

It was like a freaking lightshow there for about 45 minutes....

Yikes, lightning on the golf course is scary. I once saw a lightning strike split a 100+ year old oak tree right down the middle a few holes away from us. The tree was probably 80 ft. tall and at least 6 ft. in diameter. Split it right down the middle like someone hit it with a big cleaver. There was heavy cloud cover with light sprinkly rain and the weather looked threatening but we hadn't seen any lightning up to that point. The bolt just came out of nowhere. Needless to say we scattered like crazy off the course.

One other time we had a small tornado hit the opposite end of the course from us. We saw it drop out of the clouds and start kicking up debris so we took cover in a drainage culvert. The thing passed within a few hunded yards of us, that was pretty scary too.

Living in the midwest is fun! :laugh:

Hit a hole in one on this hole and you choose between a Cadillac coupe, a Land Rover, an Audi convertable or a Lexus....all the cars are parked around the tee. The Golf Director's stunningly beautiful blonde daughter is there to act as a witness....

Hmmm... and as a distraction too, I'm sure...

 

[SiberianDVM]

Damn, Bravo. Keep that shit over there in Alabama where it belongs. I want to play golf tomorrow.

 

[Bravo]

Hmmm... and as a distraction too, I'm sure...

Yes and all of us middle aged men were having carnal thoughts as we teed off.

But she succeeded in selling a ton of golf shop merchandise....the old man is pretty shrewd....:hunter:

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

We had to drop off the other day after only 2 holes for lightning. Rain doesn't bother me, but lightning is another thing. We were playing a league once and a storm came up. We were on the #16 fairway and the first lightning strike came down between the #16 and #14 greens. There were foresomes on each of the greens. Really freaked out a bunch of people. We were about 100 yards out and could feel the heat, the guys on the greens said it was pretty intense. A few of them hit the deck.

 

[LyleG]

I got hit by lighting in 2001 and have not been a big fan of "weather" since.
I was not golfing, and it wasnt even bad out. Just one big black cloud and a clothes line pole at a buddies cabin. Lightning hit the pole and got me through the ground. According to my wife and my buddy, it hit the pole, and a split second later a big blue streak came out the end of the paint cage I was holding. At that point they said I simply collapsed. I was out for about 3 minutes but was basically unhurt. I had a burn on my hand and had no balance at all for nearly a month. Walking in my living room felt like it had a 45* slope to it. It was a terrible feeling. Do not mess with mother nature, you see lightening, get the hell out of there.

 

[Tmiltz80]

Yeah, i've had an extreemly close call with lighting before. I run for the hills now dayz when lighting comes my way

 

[OmegaG5]

OK... so you are a mile away at the far end of the course...
So where do you run?

 

[Bravo]

Today I got to see the remainder of the holes I didn't see yesterday...final lightning verdict:

1) Four trees destroyed.

2) Irrigation line on #18 destroyed.

3) Cart barn electrical system zapped.

All in 45 minutes....

 

[ThatCanadianGuy]

Lightning hit our pro shop one day and fried the radio and the telephone someone was talking on.

We still use the radio. :laugh:

 

[Eracer]

I got hit by lighting in 2001 and have not been a big fan of "weather" since.
I was not golfing, and it wasnt even bad out. Just one big black cloud and a clothes line pole at a buddies cabin. Lightning hit the pole and got me through the ground. According to my wife and my buddy, it hit the pole, and a split second later a big blue streak came out the end of the paint cage I was holding. At that point they said I simply collapsed. I was out for about 3 minutes but was basically unhurt. I had a burn on my hand and had no balance at all for nearly a month. Walking in my living room felt like it had a 45* slope to it. It was a terrible feeling. Do not mess with mother nature, you see lightening, get the hell out of there.

That explains everything....:laugh:

 

[warbirdlover]

Yeah, Lyle probably has that "neo-skunk" look like the the guy in "The Great Outdoors" movie that's been hit in the head with lightning repeatedly and studders. (JK Lyle) . That's the movie where the Illinois people (John Candy and Ackroud) go up to Wisconsin. (You don't know how "accurate" that movie really is)..

 

[Eracer]

The day I saw lightning come out of a clear blue sky and hit a beach is the day I quit hanging around when I hear thunder. There was a storm maybe five miles away, with not a cloud in the sky above us, and my girlfriend and I saw this bright blue flash hit the beach right in front of us. Scared the BEJEEBUS out of us.