GOLF TODAY (Dover, UK) 19 May 04 Golfer sues golf resort over crocodile bite
A golfer is suing a resort in Malaysia after a crocodile grabbed his leg and tried to drag him into a pond as he played the seventh hole, local media reported on Wednesday.
The 42-year-old company director, Terry Hong Kee Siong, needed 38 stitches in his left leg after managing to escape by thumping the five-metre reptile on the head at the A Famosa Golf Resort in the tourist town of Malacca, several papers said.
He is suing the resort for damages, saying that apart from physical injuries he suffered mental shock and anguish and has not hit a golf ball since the incident on January 22.
Hong told reporters he was looking for his ball after playing a shot when he stepped on what he thought was a piece of wood. "It turned out to be a crocodile. It bit me," he said.
The New Straits Times carried a front-page picture of Hong's leg, showing long gashes behind the knee and on the calf.
In February, golfers looking for eagles and birdies on another Malaysian course also got more than they bargained for when a five-metre python slithered into play.
Staff and golfers fled as the python made its way into the buggy centre at the Bukit Unggul Golf and Country Club near the capital Kuala Lumpur. The snake was later captured and handed over to the Malayan Nature Society.
Golf is an increasingly popular sport in Malaysia, a jungle-clad tropical Southeast Asian country where encounters with less intimidating playing partners such as gibbons are a common occurrence
Golfer sues golf resort over crocodile bite