Mason Carmel couldn’t find his ball.
And he lost his boxers.
But we all got one helluva story.
As first reported by the Fire Pit Collective’s Ryan French — whose reporting on the subject matter is tireless and whose Twitter account is a must-follow — Carmel hit his tee shot right on the 387-yard, par-4 4th on the West Course at Fountains Country Club in Florida, and he finished with a bogey on Monday during the Fountains December Classic, an event on the Minor League Golf Tour. But in between is where things got good.
According to French, Carmel believed that his tee shot had finished on a tiny strip of land between out of bounds on the right and an irrigation canal that runs the length of the hole on the left. But there was no path across the water. And you may have an idea where this is going. But stay with us.
Carmel swam over. According to French, Carmel had stripped off his pants, socks and shoes, and once across, he would have his playing partner, Shoji Fujita, toss him a club.
But Carmel lost the boxers. According to French, he lost them on the dive in.
Then Carmel couldn’t find his ball. As for the lack of any bottoms? According to French, Carmel tugged down his golf shirt to cover things up during the search.
Then he swam back, and on the return, Carmel told French he felt something on his foot. Maybe he scraped it. Maybe he was bit. According to French, there was a sign near the water warning of alligators. The foot bled.
Then, after a drop, Carmel hit.
To 10 feet, according to French. From there, Carmel two-putted for the bogey, he signed for an eight-over 79 and finished 79th and out of the money. Peter Bradbeer was the winner of the 18-hole event with a 64, and he earned $1,125 from the $9,909 purse.
And we all got one helluva story.
