Got this in an e-mail from a friend today. Now THIS is what I would call a valuable (and timely) golf lesson:

“A guy got hit by lightning Monday morning on a golf course in Madison. I’m attaching pictures of what was left of his pull cart and golf bag. Read the report, then take a look at the pictures! I have been a police officer for 18 years and have seen a lot of gruesome and disturbing scenes. This one was different because it hits close to home and most of us have been in this situation.

This 75-year-old golfer was golfing with three other retired guys in a regular weekly tee time and the weather forecast had never even predicted rain the night before. They teed off and got around to the back nine when it started to rain …then a little lightning way off in the distance so they headed in and waited under a tree half way in when the rain became very heavy. Three of them then continued in but one guy decided to wait it out under a 50′ pine with an overhang of 10′ standing next to his bag.

A lightning bolt minutes later struck his bag and pull cart as he was holding onto one of his clubs, killing him instantly. The old man was literally cooked. Most of the items in his bag simply disintegrated from the heat and intense initial zap – including the labels to his Ping irons and Cleveland woods, which popped off. The electricity actually burned holes into the bottoms of the clubs.

* In this photo, a look at what was left of his pull cart and equipment. On the top is what was left of his driver.

* In this photo, a closer look at what was left of the destruction.

* In this photo, the little brown clumps you see are what used to be golf balls.

The strange thing is the tree under which he was standing had no sign of a lightning strike. The bolt literally went sideways under the tree to the golf clubs.

LESSONS: If you are caught out on the course or water distance yourself from anything metal OR graphite. (Did you know that lightning rods are often made of graphite?) And keep your pull cart at least 50′ away from you! Please pass this along to your golfing buddies.

Pretty amazing stuff, huh? Consider this a public service message from Goodboys Nation weblog.