The ‘Birdie’ No Golfer Wants to Hit

March 12, 2008

ORLANDO – Pro golfer Tripp Isenhour is in the dog house with animal rights groups and now, the Orange County Circuit Court, after he allegedly killed a protected hawk – with a golf ball.

On Dec. 12, 2007, Tripp was filming an instructional video at Orlando’s Grand Cypress Resort and golf course. During the taping, investigators said the pro got upset over a hawk that was chirping loudly from a tree some 300 yards away.

“What happened was, you know, the bird was making noise, but the fact that I was upset was inaccurate,” said Isenhour. “There were several others trying to get the bird to simply fly away. That’s all we were trying to do. The bird was high up in the tree and I was simply just trying to hit the tree to make the bird fly away.”

According to his account of the incident, the bird was squawking so loudly that it interrupted filming, more than once.

Tripp first attempted to make the bird fly away by driving up to the tree it was perched in. When that didn’t work, he began hitting golf balls in its direction.

He said it’s unrealistic for people to think he believed he could actually hit the bird.

And he didn’t initially. He said he was trying to hit the tree to scare the bird off but stopped soon after when that didn’t work.

Taping resumed, but soon the bird flew closer, landing within 75 yards of Tripp and the filming crews’ position. When it resumed making noise, he decided to repeat his previous strategy, hitting more balls at the now significantly closer hawk.

"About the sixth ball came very near the bird's head, and (Isenhour) was very excited that it was so close," said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer Brian Baine in his report of the incident.

Isenhour allegedly said "I'll get him now," and aimed for the hawk.

The bird fell to the ground, and upon examination, blood could be seen coming from its nostrils.

"As soon as this happened, I was mortified and extremely upset and continue to be upset," Isenhour said in a statement. "I want to let everyone know there was neither any malice nor deliberate intent whatsoever to hit or harm the hawk. I was trying to simply scare it into flying away."

"He just kept saying how he didn't think he could have hit it, which I think is a stupid thing for a PGA Tour golfer to say," said Jethro Senger, a member of the film crew. "He can put a ball in a hole from hundreds of yards away, and here he is hitting line drives at something that's, I don't know, a couple hundred feet away?"

According to Senger the incident was "basically like a joke to (Isenhour)."

But of the 15 or so people present that day, no one stepped in to stop Isenhour from trying to hit the bird – which Senger said should have happened immediately.

"It was one of those cases where there's some trepidation on whether or not they should speak up and do something," Senger said.

Because of the bird’s protected status, Tripp now faces animal cruelty and killing a migratory bird charges, which could land him a 14-month prison sentence and up to $1,500 in fines.

“Obviously, and set of facts which involve an individual hitting a golf ball at a living target is clearly inappropriate behavior,” said Ty Votaw, PGA Tour executive president, in a written statement. “Tripp has publicly apologized and expressed remorse and regret about his actions. We find this entire incident regrettable and unfortunate.

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