There are many positives to playing golf solo. Peace. Quiet. Focus. Speed. But there are negatives too. You might get paired with a random single who seemingly hasn’t talked to another human being since the Reagan Administration. Or maybe you’ll make that elusive ace with no one around to vouch for it. Less likely still, you might even get struck by lightning.
That was the exceedingly rare case at Oregon Golf Club on Saturday, where a solo golfer was struck by lightning during a fast moving thunderstorm. According to local news outlets Fox 12, NBC affiliate KGW and West Linn Tidings, around 2:47 p.m. local time the unnamed victim was struck by lightning.
“He stated that he recalled holding the club, but from there doesn’t recall much,” Tullatin Valley Fire & Rescue Captain Ryan Stenhouse told KGW.
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That’s where the story takes an even wilder turn. Not only did the golfer survive the strike, when he regained consciousness, he placed his own call to the pro shop asking them to call 911. Whoever said golfers aren’t tough?
Stenhouse described the golfer’s condition as “shaken, scared, nervous as you can imagine.” According to reports, he suffered one entry wound and two exit wounds in the strike and was transported to the burn center at Portland’s Legacy Emanuel hospital in stable condition.
“I gotta be honest, this is the first time I’ve been on a lightning strike. So it’s new to all of us – pretty uncommon,” Stenhouse also told Fox 12. “To have an individual struck and to be in the condition that he was in, you know, is remarkable.”
Remarkable indeed. The odds of making a hole-in-one while playing solo? One in 12,500. The odds of being struck by lightning? Less than one in a million.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
