The golf course can be a stressful environment at the best of times, trying to improve on your personal-best score or just simply stop slicing the ball as much.
Yet, for anyone who has experience of playing the sport in Florida, there is always the added dimension of keeping an eye out for alligators as well.
Many sources predict there to be around 1.3 million of the reptiles in the Sunshine State, with alligators being found "almost anywhere there is water." And there are plenty of golf courses with at least one pond or lake attached to them.
So it should not have been too much of a surprise to a pair of Florida golfers recently when their peaceful drive along a cart path, which ran adjacent to a lake, was briefly interrupted by a flustered alligator.
The video - shared by WINK News' chief meteorologist, Matt Devitt - showed someone capturing footage of an alligator steadily making its way back towards the body of water in front of it.
Only, before the creature reached the cart path between itself and the lake, a golf cart - carrying two blissfully unaware amateurs - zipped along in front of said animal, causing the alligator to scamper and snap at the offending vehicle.
The golfers swerved off the path to avoid a collision before making their way back towards dry land and continuing on with their rounds. Meanwhile, the scaly reptile sauntered into the water after successfully defending its territory.
Thankfully, all parties appeared to be safe and sound in the end, only with heart rates possibly beating slightly higher for a brief time afterwards.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) states that fatal alligator attacks are extremely rare in Florida while there are an average of eight unprovoked alligator attacks per year requiring medical attention. Between 1948 and 2021, Florida saw 442 unprovoked alligator attacks, resulting in 26 deaths.
It also points out that alligators become more active as temperatures rise and stresses that people should not swim in rivers and lakes at either dawn or dusk.
