74-Year-Old Golfer Shoots Man In Ankle, Beats Him With Club For Walking His Dog On Golf Course

It’s not often you hear about violence breaking out on a golf course, but it did in Florida this week after an elderly golfer shot a man in his ankle and beat him with a golf club because he walked his dog along the course.

As per Golf Digest, 74-year-old Robert Levine is under arrest for attempted first-degree murder for shooting 64-year-old Herbert Merritt after he spotted him walking his dog along the 15th hole of Kings Point Golf Club. Here’s how it went down according to Merritt:

Merritt told deputies he was walking his dog on the grass next to the golf course when Levine rode up in his golf cart and … began causing a verbal altercation with him due to having his dog on the golf course … He then began shooting at him while Merritt was running away.

Levine chased Merritt around a tree while continuing to shoot—Merritt said he shot about five rounds at him, according to the report and witnesses … he felt that Levine was trying to kill him.

Um, yeah. I’d say he was trying to kill him alright. Onward…

According to witnesses, who called the police as they watched the altercation unfold, the semi-automatic handgun police found in Levine’s front left pocket a short while later wasn’t enough, however:

Witnesses told deputies they saw Levine kick Merritt in the head, go back to his cart and get a club and begin beating Merrit with the club while holding the gun in his left hand. Deputies said they found shell casings on the ground and two golf clubs with what appeared to be blood on them.

Bloody hell. I know you’re not supposed to walk your dog on a golf course but I just don’t understand how Robert Levine took it so seriously. It triggered him to the point that he literally (well, allegedly) wanted to murder the guy. Shot him in the ankle, and even that wasn’t enough. He went back to his cart to grab a golf club and batter him some more as the dog presumably went bananas.

Then again, people do pay good money to go golfing. The last thing you need when you’re just trying to relax and shoot a few holes is some idiot turning up with his dog and ruining the vibe. Maybe it was one of those small, annoying dogs with bogeys in its eyes and that’s what set Levine off so badly. What a reaction though – he not only could have killed the dog walker and the dog, but also random golfers around him from the sounds of how he was shooting.

Well anyway, I did manage to find a golf fight on YouTube, so maybe it does happen more often than we think: