Critics of golf will tell you that the sport isn’t action packed enough to hold their attention.
But it doesn’t get much more exciting than looking up to see a whopping great alligator just stretching its legs on the open course.
The giant reptile was spotted at the Buffalo Creek Golf Course in Palmetto in Florida and caught on camera by golfer Charles Helms, who was initially so stunned by its gargantuan presence that he thought it must have been a practical joke.
In the video, which has since been uploaded numerous times to YouTube, he can be heard saying, ““Jesus, that must be 15ft long.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMOg0RVvHXI
He later told ABC Action News that he was “stunned and silent” when it got up and started moving towards the big lake nearby.
Although it was undoubtedly an incredible sighting, the alligator is no stranger to the golf course, according to pro shop clerk Wendy Schofield, who told News3: “He doesn’t bother anybody and they don’t bother him, he’s like a mascot for the course, which is owned by Manatee County.”
“He has been here for a very, very long time, he’s not new at all. There have been guesses that he’s 15 to 16 feet long,” the five-year employee said. “The word has spread that this is a great place to come and play. He is the highlight, but we are worth the price too.”
As you can probably imagine, this particular “mascot” made quite a splash as the video started to spread across the internet.
There was A MASSIVE alligator spotted on a golf course in Florida. #NOPE (via Charles Helms)https://t.co/wppioX2Gny
— NBC Sports Bet (@NBCSportsBet) May 31, 2016
BREAKING: The massive alligator seen walking across a golf course in Florida is the same alligator from Lake Placid​https://t.co/WqGyfgRYOX
— Stadium (@Stadium) May 31, 2016
https://twitter.com/MarkCarter19/status/737779387202932736
I spent all day thinking that alligator on the golf course was fake. It looks like something out of Lake Placid. pic.twitter.com/20VwofBgU8
— Jenna Lehne (@jenna_lehne) May 31, 2016
https://twitter.com/LDBurnett/status/737779434804019200