Imagine this. Your out playing a nice round of golf. A bird lands in a nearby tree and begins to screech, breaking your concentration. You keep your eye on the ball. Take aim. And WHACK! Woops, bye-bye birdie! Well, that kind of happened for a film crew for "Shoot Like A Pro" at the Grand Cypress Golf course in Orlando.
PGA Tour golfer Tripp Isenhour was charged with killing a hawk on purpose with a golf shot because it was making noise as he videotaped a TV show. The 39-year-old golfer, whose real name is John Henry Isenhour III, was charged Monday with cruelty to animals and killing a migratory bird. 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.
"About the sixth ball came very near the bird's head, and (Isenhour) was very excited that it was so close," Baine wrote. 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. "He just kept saying how he didn't think he could have hit it, which I think is a stupid thing for a PGA Tour golfer to say," said Jethro Senger, a sound engineer at the shoot. "He can put a ball in a hole from hundreds of yards away, and here he is hitting line drives at something that's, I don't know, a couple hundred feet away?" Senger said the killing was not captured on video. The bird was buried at the golf course and later dug up by Florida investigators.The bizarre part about this story. No one in the roughly 15-person crew intervened, and many later regretted it. The key word here is later. Yeah, way to go guys. You got your ass caugh on video, killing a protect bird species, and because your pro golfer didn't make the perfect golf shot, you decided to get some "balls" and speak up. Way to go. We're proud of you. Now good ol' John Henry is on his way to the ASPCA slammer. Great shot though. Have a nice trip, Tripp! That shot will cost ya!
