Gator-crasher! Moment a seven-foot monster strolls across a Florida fairway in front of golfer – who lifts his shot over the alligator’s head
- Steel Lafferty was filmed hitting a golf ball above the head of a nearby alligator
- The reptile had walked onto the pitch yards away from the player
- But the interruption didn’t stop his game as Lafferty continued to take the shot
- The clip had been viewed nearly 700,000 times as of Friday
This is the remarkable moment a golfer took a shot above the head of a seven-foot alligator that strolled in front of him on a Florida fairway.
Steel Lafferty was at ChampionGate Country Club in Osceola County when the reptile tried to gatecrash his game on Wednesday.
The large alligator sneaked-up on the professional wake-boarder moments before he was about to hit the ball.
Despite being yards away, Laffety walked up and sent the ball flying over the creature who seemed relatively unfazed.
Steel Lafferty (above) was determined to take his shot on ChampionGate Country Club, in Florida, despite an alligator trying to gatecrash his game
Lafferty (left) seemed undeterred by the alligator that was just yards away. The professional wake-boarder raced over and quickly hit the ball over the reptile
Lafferty told Fox35 that the alligator then walked around 100 yards before disappearing into a lake by the green.
The video, which was captioned ‘Golfing in Florida is just different…’ had been viewed nearly 700,000 times as of Friday.
Joey Vasquez commented: ‘This is the content the PGA has been missing!’
Another user Blair Barham, who was shocked Lafferty still took the shot, wrote: ‘Nope I’ll take the penalty.’
‘You’re out of ur mind,’ added Bob Menery.
In response to another comment Laffety replied: ‘Let’s ride one of these alligators.’
This incident is one of a spate of unusual alligator encounters recently caught on camera in the Sunshine state.
Christina Stewart filmed an alligator appearing to break into Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS Jax) on August 17.
‘There it goes…over the fence,’ Stewart said.
In the clip as the alligator climbed over it fell head first onto the grass followed by the rest of its large body.
Christina Stewart filmed an alligator as it scaled a metal fence (left). The reptile managed to climb over the railings but later fell face first onto the grass (right)
Another sighting by Roger Light showed an alligator crossing the flood road of a busy intersection (above) in Pinellas Park, Florida
Days before that Roger Light photographed another alligator swimming in a flood roadway during a storm in Pinellas Park.
The eight-foot reptile ‘scared the crap out of’ Light when he saw it approaching his work vehicle after he stopped at a light on August 15.
There are five million alligators in the United States, of which the majority, around 1.3 million, live in Florida, the state’s tourism board reports.
The reptiles live in all 67 of Florida’s counties, according to the Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Visitors are advised to keep at least 50 feet away from the reptiles at all times.
If one is spotted it’s recommended to call the Nuisance Alligator Line who will send a professional trapper to catch the creature.