Girl finds massive 6-foot snake while playing golf

By Ed Chatterton

A junior golfer was given the fright of her life after she found her ball had landed on a 6-foot (1.8-meter) boa constrictor on a U.K. golf course.

The 13-year-old girl had been playing a round at Blackwell Grange Golf Club in Darlington when she came across the curled-up snake on Saturday, June 13.

She had hit a tee shot from the par-4 fifth hole — but was given a shock when she found her ball had rolled up right against the huge reptile.

Resident PGA pro Aaron Cox had been leading the group of young golfers around the course when they came across the surprise hazard on the 353-yard hole.

Boa constrictors are nonvenomous and kill their prey — animals as large as monkeys and pigs — by strangling or constricting them until they suffocate, before swallowing them whole.

The young golfer's dad, David, who would only give his daughter's name as Phoebe, said: "She messaged me a picture on WhatsApp.

"It was a picture of the snake and I thought at first it was AI-generated and she was pulling my leg.

"She had written 'help' in her message as well so then I worried whether she might be in danger.

"But she is quite sensible and knows her snakes so I was confident she would be OK.

"She told me she was pretty shocked to find it but now she thinks it's great and it was a pleasure to see one in the flesh."

Cox, 40, who is from Australia but now lives in Darlington, County Durham, said: "I've seen bigger back in Oz so I wasn't too bothered by it — but most of the other golfers were.

"I had been taking my elite development group around when one of them hit a tee shot from the fifth which landed just right of the fairway in the rough.

"She was then rather shocked and alarmed to find the ball had come to a rest against this snake — and she said 'I'm not going to play that.'

"It looked like a python at first so I was reluctant to touch it but it seemed quite quiet and calm. It was just curled up in the long grass.

"I thought it was about three of four feet at first but it was actually 6 feet long so quite a size.

"We think it was left near a pond not far from the hole and it has slithered over and made itself at home in the long grass.

"It was probably a pet so it wouldn't have lasted long with the cold nights, so it's lucky we found it when we did."

Cox called his boss, head pro Peter Raine, and helped to coax the large snake safely into a cardboard box after deciding it would be too heavy to pick up with golf clubs.

He added: "It has been reported a snake had been seen on the course but we never expected to find it or that it would be nonnative.

"The grass was knee-high so you would never have spotted it otherwise.

"Pete came along with member Ian McDonald on a buggy and a cardboard box.

"They thought of using golf clubs to move him first but we realized it would be too heavy for that.

"It got a bit grumpy while we were trying to get him into the box but eventually we were able to coax him in there.

"I wasn't too fazed but I think Pete and Ian were a bit more apprehensive as they had never seen a snake on a golf course before.

"They took the snake to the pet shop where it is said to be eating and doing well which is good news.

"In Melbourne you have signs up at golf courses warning about snakes — but I never thought we might need them here.

"It's not very often you get a snake at a course in the U.K."

The snake was handed into Coast to Coast Exotics, which has since issued an appeal on social media to help find its owner.

A spokesperson for the shop said: "The boa has settled in well and ate yesterday and appears to be in good health."