FL Press: Stubborn alligator no match for Baddeley
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Posted by W von Papineäu on March 23, 2003 at 22:17:37:
ORLANDO SENTINEL (Florida) 23 March 03 Stubborn alligator no match for Baddeley (Steve Elling)
Australia's Aaron Baddeley has had a dealing or two with crocodiles in his playing days Down Under. That is probably why he knew that the animal's ornery cousin, the alligator, isn't nearly as aggressive.
Baddeley had a close encounter with a 6-foot gator on the sixth hole Saturday en route to a 2-under 70 that left him tied for fourth place. After pulling his drive onto the bank of the huge lake that abuts the hole, he found a gator sunning itself within a few feet of his ball. His playing partner, Rod Pampling, had run afoul of the same gator a day earlier in the same exact spot.
They tossed golf tees at the gator in an attempt to get it to move, but it was stubborn.
"It ended up moving," said Baddeley, 23. "I didn't feel like wrestling it. I was thinking about grabbing its tail. But on second thought, maybe not."
Of course, the gator might have caught a glimpse of the sea-foam green pants that Baddeley was sporting and dived for safe haven in the water. Those pants, by the way, came close to being removed.
Once he evaluated his stance, he stripped off his shoes and socks, rolled up his pants to the knees and waded in, much to the delight of the hooting gallery.
"A little deeper and I would have had to take the whole pants off," he said.
He saved par on the hole.
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