Golfer Swaps Birdie For Pike

Golfer Brian Farley is the talk of the 19th hole after killing a fish with a tee shot which appeared to bounce off the surface of a lake.

Amateur player Brian,aged 50,sliced his shot off the 11th tee and watched his ball sail towards the water trap.

The astonished father-of-five gaped as the ball - instead of plopping into the lake - bounced off the surface at a 45 degree angle and landed just yards from the green.

It was only when he found the fish floating dead in the water with a golf-ball size dent on its head that he realised what had happened.

Brian was playing a round at the course near his home in Dorset,when the bizarre incident occurred.

"I knew there was nothing in the lake which the ball could have bounced off so I was amazed when I saw it skip off the surface in another direction" he said.

"I walked up the fairway and peered into the reeds where I thought it would have landed,and spotted a pike lying dead in the water.

"I picked it out and it had a huge dent in the front of its head,exactly the size of my ball."

Amazingly the pike,washed into the lake during a recent flood,had headed the golf ball back on to the course.

"I could not believe it" said the florist.""The fish weighed 6lb 8oz.I have done some fishing in my time but have never caught anything that big."

Brian was able to finish the hole in three shots before slinging the dead fish over his bag and heading back to the clubhouse.

Bosses at the club have displayed the head of the fish alongside Brian's golf ball.

He said the rest of the fish was used to feed his cat for the next five days.

Stuart Hudson,a director at the golf course where the bizarre incident happened,said players stood more chance of getting a hole in one than bouncing a shot off a fish.

He said "I don't think anyone could quite believe it when news got round about what had happened.Brian is not a man for stories but it seemed almost impossible that he could have hit the fish with his ball."

He said it was not until players and officials compared the ball with the dent in the pike's head that they agreed that is what must have happened.

"We get plenty of players caught out by the lake all the time,but we have never heard of any of them ever killing a fish before" he added.

"Whether the fish had been left behind when the River Stour receded after a recent flood,or whether the pike was dropped by a heron into the lake,we shall never know.

"I will be amazed if anyone is ever able to repeat the feat."