Florida man, 83, drowns in golf course pond, police say

[marmar]

Admittedly I know little about golf or golf courses, but I never thought those ponds were that deep




An 83-year-old man has drowned at a golf course in Florida, police say.

The individual had entered a pond to try to retrieve a hat while playing a round at the Wycliffe Golf & Country Club in Wellington Saturday, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies told the Palm Beach Post that at some point, the man started to thrash around and went underwater. .............(more)

https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-man-83-drowns-in-golf-course-pond-police-say

[mnhtnbb]

1. With all the alligators in golf course ponds in Florida, who in his right mind

would wade in to retrieve a hat?

[Rorey]

4. Good point!

My ex-husband almost drowned once because his fishing pole went overboard and he fell in when he was retrieving it.

Unfortunately, he survived.

[Arkansas Granny]

7. I would be more concerned with the concentration of toxic chemicals

used to maintain the grass that drain into these ponds.

[mnhtnbb]

10. Over a million gators in FL lakes, ponds, canals...

according to this story from 2019. They are everywhere all over the state.

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190408/interactive-map-shows-where-floridas-nuisance-alligators-are

[ProfessorGAC]

28. A Somewhat Overstated Concerm

Since that water is used to water the course on 95%+ of golf courses, rain continuously dilute those things.
Also, fertilizers are merely salts that provide root nutrients. They aren't inherently dangerous. Ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphate and the potassium analogs of those anions are quite safe.
The LD50 (lethal dose for 50% of population so affected) are 2-5g per kg of body weight. Somebody my size would have to eat 3/4ths of a pound of potassium sulfate, in one sitting to hit the LD50.
Herbicides? Yes, you're right. Those are toxic, but they do decompose due to sunlight. So the quantity that is put on the grass doesn't equal the mass in the runoff.
In addition, the very mechanism by which a weed killer works causes the active herbicide to decompose to smaller, less toxic & biodegradable forms. This lowers the runoff concentration even further. And this ignores what stays in the soil until enzymaticallly decomposed by nitrogen fixing bacteria.
EPA laws apply to courses, just like any other business. As they should!
Would your concern been more consistent with the data in the 70s? You bet!
A lot has changed regarding turf agronomy in the last 45 years. In a positive way.
The risk in a course pond from drowning is far greater than the risk of toxic exposure.

[doc03]

2. His MAGA hat blew in the pond

[lpbk2713]

3. The edges of these hazards are often mucky.

It's likely he got stuck and couldn't get out. Then lost his balance and went in.

[aikoaiko]

5. They can be slippery.

[Wounded Bear]

6. One can easily drown in a foot of water given the right circumstances...

[Baitball Blogger]

8. There are laws about slope requirements.

As well as issues with depth. But, the property rights nutcases have been able to get away with an interpretation that allows them to do whatever the fuck they want to do it's on private property.

[obamanut2012]

9. Very rich area of PBC -- polo country

Old, maybe drunk, and wonder if a gator was involved? I just take a stroke if my ball is too close to a water hazard because of the gators.

[Ohiogal]

11. Why can't Trump do that ...

[11 Bravo]

17. Because when Trump hits one into the water, his caddy rushes ahead ...

pretends to look around, then tosses a ball back into the fairway, and yells, "Found it! You got a great bounce, sir!"

[treestar]

12. Sad and unfortunate

yet it tempts one to try for a Trump joke.

[a kennedy]

13. Is it wrong of me to hope it was tRump that fell in and drowned??

[malaise]

16. When I saw the age I knew I was wrong

[KY_EnviroGuy]

14. Cue the eulogy: "He died doing what he loved most."

The ones I poked around in while in coastal South Carolina hosted 'gators and water moccasins.....


RIP, 'ole boy.........

[RANDYWILDMAN]

15. Your hat or your life ??

"You probably get a free bowl of soup if you buy that hat" Rodney from caddyshack

Sounds like a Darwin award winnner

RIP

[malaise]

18. I'll forgive him given his age

Sad

[tblue37]

20. They can only win a Darwin Award if they haven't reproduced yet, so at his age he was

not in the running.

[nolabear]

19. This is very sad. Someone loved him and he died suddenly.

[Maru Kitteh]

21. If he was lucky, someone loved him. I've worked with

many seniors who had noone. There's a lot of loneliness out there.

[nolabear]

25. Sadly that's true. I hope so too.

I’m troubled by the lightness and snark around his death, whether he’ll ever know or not.

[lpbk2713]

27. He was playing a round at age 83.

He probably had a few good years left.

[Kaleva]

22. We don't know how close to death we come each and every day.

[genxlib]

23. They are deep

Because they are used to generate dirt. The dirt from the lakes make the high areas and hills. That is how a flat cow pasture goes from being too low for useful habitation to being a golf course or residential lots.

If they had to bring that much dirt from somewhere else, many of these projects would be cost prohibitive.

[snort]

24. Now watch this drive.

[SWBTATTReg]

26. I guess it was his time to go, although being 83 years old, I would have written the hat off as a

loss, or got some much younger person to get the the mislaid hat, if such a person could be found who would go into the water w/ possible alligators (and other critters, water moccasins, etc.). He drowned over a $20 dollar hat. How in the hell did he ever get to 83 years old?