Ghosts, Goblins and Golf

There are a few times in golf when you might have the crap scared out of you.

1. Hitting a shot and then realizing it is headed right at another golfer.

2. Being on the receiving end of #1.

3. Playing on a haunted golf course.

With the latter in mind and being in the Halloween spirit, I thought it would be interesting to explore some more haunted golf courses. Last year, Stinky Golfer Chris covered some with his frightening post and this year I wanted to continue. We’ll go from the U.S. to overseas and take a look at some of these spooky tracks.

Many consider New Orleans to be a haunted city and what a great place to start. City Park Golf Course in N’awlins has seen its share of apparitions and ghosts. Stinky Golfer Chris mentioned the paranormal activity on the 18th green of the East course but, how about the the spirit of a murdered woman on the South Course? The next time you hear “Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?” Think twice…

Moving around the south we encounter courses that were built on old plantations and perhaps slave graveyards. Not to mention possible native burial grounds. These sacred final resting spots should have been left alone but the chance to make a buck over-ruled, such as Willow Brook Plantation in South Carolina.

Across the pond at perhaps the most famous golf course in the world, St. Andrews is also home to Martyr’s Monument. The site, right behind the 18th green, on the Old Course where five Protestants were burned at the stake some 500 years ago. Was that cool breeze you just felt coming off the North Sea…or was it coming from something else?

Moving on to the land of kangaroos and shrimp on the barbie, we come to Mt. Lawley Golf Club in Perth, Australia. This course has a hole named “Satan’s Elbow”. And somewhere around that area a man named Michael Oakleigh, as legend has it, committed suicide. Double whammy, not only is the hole named Satan’s elbow, some guy offed himself there too. I think I’ll skip this hole.

This next story is a dead on (pun intended) match for Golfstinks.com! Apparently, Grande Oaks Golf Club (the old Rolling Hills Golf Club where they filmed Caddyshack) and some other South Florida courses seem to be the place where golfers are encountering the ghost of Ted Knight, a.k.a Judge Smails.

How great is that? If I had to go to a haunted place, I would want the ghost to be Judge Smails. Gambling might have been illegal at Bushwood but no one said anything about haunting it…

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!!