Man Loses Hand in Alligator Attack on Florida Golf Course

An alligator attacked a man 52-year-old man while he fishing in a retention pond on a Florida golf course, biting off his hand.

According to clickorlando.com, the attack happened Sunday, March 17, on a pond at the ninth hole on the Pennbrooke Fairways golf course near Leesburg.

A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission incident form states the alligator amputated the man’s left hand and then retreated with it back into the pond.

The injured man was airlifted to an Orlando hospital for treatment. An alligator trapper later dispatched the reptile, which measured in at approximately 9 feet, 2 inches long.

According to 911 calls, which were released on the following Monday, one of the callers told dispatchers that the man had been walking around with bleeding, “moaning and groaning constantly.”

“There was a gator attacking a man in my backyard,” the caller said. “Some people now have stopped in their golf cart.”

She said the gator had returned into the water after “rolling around” with the man.

Another caller could be heard saying the alligator “took his hand off.”

“His hand is gone!” she can be heard saying.

Brandon Fisher with Gatorland told News 6 that alligators become more active for mating season as the weather warms.

“Pretty much every body of fresh water has one. There will be one or there has been one in it,” Fisher said. “They get up and travel. They get up, and food dries up, and they go look for new food. When the water dries up, they go look for new homes and new bodies of water.”

Fisher explained that, because alligators can leap, people should stay about 25 feet from the shoreline.