Golfers are prepared for eagles and birdies on the green (even the occasional alligator), but geese are something new.
This weekend a territorial Canada goose angrily descended upon a high school golfer, Isaac Couling, reports PGA.com, and luckily a photographer was there to capture the slapstick moment.
The viral moment occurred at Wolf Creek Golf Course in Adrian, Michigan, during the Madison Tournament.
A group of four teen golfers were walking down the fairway after teeing off, when they noticed a goose sitting on her egg nearby. The players made sure to keep their distance from the bird and her soon-to-be baby, but apparently it wasn’t far enough.
“Isaac Couling — a golfer from Concord High School— was just walking with his bag, when up from behind them and to the right came a guard goose protecting the nest, ” Steve Babbitt, Director of Athletics for Blissfield told PGA.com.
The “guard goose” made quick work of the sophomore, sending the 16 year old running around the green and eventually to the ground in an effort to protect himself.
Couling told the Detroit Free Press that he dived three times in an effort to avoid the bird before eventually getting the goose to back off with no help from anyone else.
The world has been able to enjoy this viral moment thanks to amateur photographer Devon Gilson-Pitts, who was at the tournament with her husband, an assistant coach for Blissfield High School. A fan of taking photos at sporting events, Pitts had her camera on hand when the goose swooped in and was able to get several hilarious shots of the encounter.
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Since then, Pitts’ photos have gone viral, and are especially popular among Couling’s friends.
But it is the goose’s victim who got the last laugh,
“I did par that hole,” Couling told the Detroit Free Press about what happened after the bird backed off.
