The Slanch Report

Canada is simply way too peaceful, they need more crime apparently because the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia has time to rule on asinine golf swing legal cases.

Justice Arthur J. LeBlanc ruled that the “Happy Gilmore” golf swing was ILLEGAL, not for golf, but for CANADA, stating that it “breached the standard of care owed to other players on the course.”

All this started when, in a pre-wedding round of golf, 4 friends hit the links with 28 beers, a bottle of tequila and “some marijuana.” The 28 beers didn’t last long, and so after 9 holes they bought some more. Presumably due to the drinking, one of the men, Travis Hayter was acting loosely and without regard for his surroundings, practicing power slides with the golf cart and almost driving the cart into a pond.

On the 16th hole, Hayer hit a terrible, slicing tee shot into the woods. Not content, he opted to tee it up once more. The second shot was a modest fairway shot. Ever the perfectionist, Hayter hit one more, Happy Gilmore-style. However, his friends had already started up the fairway to their balls; Hayter’s shot struck one of his companions, Alan Bezanonson, in the wrist. In a measure of true friendship, Bezanonson subsequently SUED Hayter for loss of income and damages. Take about Hayterade!

“I am convinced that the ‘Happy Gilmore’ shot,” wrote Judge LeBlanc in his decision after awarding Bezanson $227,500, “would have been less controllable than a normal tee shot, both because it involved a run-up to the ball (rather than an aimed shot from a stationary position) and because the defendant had been drinking throughout the day.”

The bizarre part though is that the nature of the swing itself is irrelevant, would the awarding be DIFFERENT had Hayter taken a “normal” swing? Apparently, golfing drunk isn’t an issue, even if your normal swing ALSO sucks, but as soon as you get “creative” in your shots you’re heading into murky legal territory.

[CS Monitor]