No one will ever mistake The GolfBlogger for a tree hugger, but this is just ridiculous:

Nationwide Tour golfer Tripp Isenhour

was charged with two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals and killing a migratory bird as a result of the incident, which took place Dec. 12 at Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 14 months in jail and $1,500 in fines.

Isenhour was taping a video called “Shoot Like a Pro” and was interrupted by the noise of the bird, according to news reports. He eventually knocked the bird out of a tree with one of his shots.

According to court documents, Isenhour got upset when a red-shouldered hawk began making noise, forcing another take. He began hitting balls at the bird, then 300 yards away, but gave up.

Isenhour started again when the hawk moved within about 75 yards, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer Brian Baine indicated in a report.

Isenhour allegedly said “I’ll get him now,” and aimed for the hawk.

A few shots later, witnesses said he hit the hawk. The bird, protected as a migratory species, fell to the ground bleeding from both nostrils.

I will confess to once killing a bird on a driving range, but that was a complete accident. I hit the ball, and the bird darted right in front of it about 50 yards out, exploding in a mass of feathers. I felt really bad.

But deliberately trying to hit a bird—with multiple shots no less—is just barbaric. 

An Illinois man landed his plane on a golf course in order to get his son to a tennis lesson.

Weird Golf Story of The Week

What are the odds? A motorcyclist driving by a course was hit on the mouth by a golf ball.

Weird Golf Story of The Week

A tragic story:

A golf-club-swinging grandpa who accidentally cracked his granddaughter’s skull was arrested Sunday after turning himself in to cops, cops said.

McKinley Williams, 52, was angrily smashing furniture in his Bronx flat when the club head disconnected and flew into his 7-month-old granddaughter’s head.

The baby, Shariyah Stewart, was fighting for her life at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, cops said, as they questioned Williams at the 46th Precinct stationhouse.

“It’s not good,” said the girl’s father, 22-year-old McKinley Stewart, who was holding a vigil with other relatives at the pediatric intensive care unit.

Weird Golf Story of the Week:

A golf ball diver in Texas has been arrested for stocking the ponds he dove in with unsterilized Asian grass carp.

No motive was listed, but I have a suspicion. It seems that the carp eat vegetation and algae. If he seeded the ponds of his clients with the carp, they would eat the plants and muck, making it easier for him to extract the golf balls.