Crocodile Kills Golfer in South Africa


Jacques van der Sandt lost his life while retrieving golf balls. The 29-year-old South African was searching for balls from Lake Panic near Johannesburg when he was grabbed by a crocodile and disappeared into the water.

The lake is part of the famed Kruger National Park, which borders a golf course within the park's boundaries and is next to a staff residential area.

Following a two-hour search, rangers found and killed the crocodile; van der Sandt's body was recovered with tooth marks on his back and front.

Oubaas Coetzer, a police officer, said the crocodile attacked van der Sandt while he was standing waist-high in water and stretching under the surface to feel for golf balls on the bottom of the lake, which was created by a dam.

"One guy challenged the other to see who can retrieve the most golf balls," Coetzer told The Associated Press. van der Sandt, the son of park employees, was an avid golfer who grew up in the park and had likely seen crocodiles in the lake before.