When Jennifer Pont and her husband arrived at Two Eagles golf course in West Kelowna on Monday, they knew it would be a leisurely round.
“There was a tournament earlier that day that had bumped everybody’s tee times ahead,” Pont said.
She took the delay in stride, but when she walked off the 17th green, she heard a commotion ahead on 18.
“At first, I wasn’t sure if people were just yelling, having a good time. You know, it’s late into the round so usually people have had some pops by then. But it became clear that this yelling was really aggressive,” she said.
When she got to the 18th tee, Post saw two groups of golfers arguing about the pace of play, and it quickly turned violent. Pushing and shoving gave way to full-blown fist fights between the golfers.
“They were hard hits; it was gross to listen to. There was blood on people’s clothing, it was just a mess. It was just so shocking,” Point said. “A lot of shameful, appalling behaviour that you just don’t do on a golf course.”
As she recorded the two-and-half-minute melee on her phone, it became clear one group, upset the foursome ahead of them had been playing slowly, hit a ball into them.
“There was a guy in the slow group, it was his birthday. So they were celebrating his birthday, and he got punched in the face. And his pregnant wife was there with him too, and she was just bewildered at what was happening,” Pont said.
RCMP were waiting for both groups when they walked off the course, and Pont’s video is now part of the police investigation.
In a statement, Two Eagles said: “We hold all parties responsible in the desecration of our beautiful golf course and we formally request the parties involved acknowledge the damage done to each other.”
Course management is also asking the brawling golfers to pay restitution in the form of a donation to an inclusive sports program.
“Their staff handled the situation with the utmost professionalism, and I hope it doesn’t reflect badly on the course at all,” said Pont. “We go there all the time, and always have such an awesome experience there.”
Not surprisingly, her video of the golf fight has gone viral.
“Our phones have been blowing up from friends and family. Like, oh my God, this thing’s going crazy,” Pont said, adding comments she made in the heat of the moment are also getting laughs online.
While the punches were being thrown, Pont is heard asking her husband Justin to step in.
“So my husband has de-escalation training and uses it in his work. And so, you know, a knee-jerk reaction was like, ‘You can help here?’” Pont said.
In hindsight, she added, she’s glad he didn’t get between them.
“Obviously, they were determined to fight, and there was no helping that situation.”
She’s also heard asking if they could play through.
“Like, hello? There’s other people on the planet other than your little tiff,” she said, laughing.
The avid golfer hopes she never encounters any of the fighting golfers on the links again.
“I think they should be banned,” Pont said. “You don’t brawl on a golf course. I mean, who does that? Like, that is so insane. It’s so crazy. Maybe choose another sport, like boxing.”
