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Golf cart road rage erupts
By Sunette van der Heyde
WHITE RIVER – The gentleman’s game of golf was turned into a contact sport when a French tourist left the course bleeding badly after a players’ dispute.
He had apparently been playing too slowly, in the opinion of other golfers.
Philippe Vinee, a radiologist of Strasbourg in France, had to receive medical treatment after he was allegedly assaulted by another golfer at the White River Country Club. He received six stitches to a gaping wound above his left eye.
He was enjoying a round of golf and was playing the 14th hole when he got into a scuffle with Marius Strydom and his partner Frederick Stoltz, the two players behind him.
One of their golf balls landed on the roof of Vinee’s golf cart. Both Strydom and Stoltz, who play off a three handicap, are members of Pretoria Golf Club.
Vinee, an experienced golfer with a 14-handicap, said an argument erupted when the men confronted him over playing too slowly for their liking.
The men allegedly drove their golf cart onto the nearby golfers’ bridge and Vinee followed, but when they suddenly stopped he bumped into them with his cart.
According to Vinee, Strydom got out of the cart cursing and without much warning punched him in the eye. He went to the clubhouse to seek help and the police were contacted.
Vinee laid a charge at White River Police Station, and also consulted local attorney Philip Meyer. He intends initiating a civil case against Strydom for medical costs and damages.
But Stoltz’s version of the incident differs greatly. According to him they were playing the 13th hole when a ball hit Vinee’s golf cart, after which he allegedly charged at them with his own cart.
The men allegedly started pushing each other about.
He says Vinee then lost his balance and hit his head against a cart, suffering the injury.
White River Country Club manager Keith Kruger said he was aware of the incident, but it had nothing to do with the club.
“It was a personal issue between visitors from other clubs, and the matter is now with the police,” he said. – CNS.
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