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College golfer has to strip down and jump into a lake after accidentally dropping golf ball
Normally, a college senior stripping down to his skivvies to jump into a body of water late into his final semester wouldn’t attract much attention. But what happened in the NCAA Regionals in Baton Rouge on Wednesday was anything but normal.
Jacksonville University senior David Wicks accidentally dropped his golf ball into a lake on his 13th hole (No. 4 at LSU's University Club) before attempting a three-foot par putt. Since the rules of golf state you must finish the hole with the same ball to avoid a penalty, Wicks had a choice: Take two strokes or practice his swimming strokes.
So Wicks stripped down and jumped into the water. He is a Dolphin, after all. Check it out:
“It was warm,” Wicks told Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner. “Nice temperature. If I had a nice inflatable and a Diet Coke, it would have been a lovely afternoon.”
Diet Coke? Sure. . .
This has happened on the PGA Tour. At last year's Players Championship, Dustin Johnson's caddie and brother, Austin, dropped his ball on No. 17 and had to get wet to get it:
Unfortunately, Wicks didn't have the same success. While Wicks found about 30 balls (turns out, this is a great way to stock up on golf balls), he never found his. The resulting penalty turned his par into a double bogey and looked like it might end the Dolphins season.
But Wicks recovered to par his final five holes and help his team earn its first ever NCAA Championship berth. That alone would have made the day memorable, but video of Wicks’ situation went viral, giving he and his teammates a story they can now laugh about for the rest of their lives.
“I was determined to redeem myself,” Wicks told Golf Channel. “I was worried that everyone would remember my college career as the guy who lost us a spot at nationals. That wasn’t the way I was going to go out.”
Don’t worry, David. We’re just going to remember you as the guy who stripped down to his underwear to take a dip during a tournament.