A golfer was struck by lightning while playing on a course in New Jersey, according to the Hardyston Police Department.
Simon Mariani, 28, was playing golf at the Ballyowen Golf Course in Hamburg, New Jersey, on Tuesday when he was struck by a bolt of lightning at the 15th hole, police said.
Brian Delia, a fellow golfer who witnessed the lightning strike, told ABC New York station WABC that he and Mariani — who he did not know — were playing in an all-day Iron Man golf competition when Delia saw dark clouds in the sky when he was at the 15th hole.
“We were all out there having fun that day,” Delia told WABC.
Delia, who captured the stormy clouds on camera, was playing at the 14th hole but decided “OK, this is enough” once the lightning struck and ran inside the clubhouse for safety, he told WABC.
“As an adult and as an avid golfer, when I see lightning, I’m not going to sit there and hold a metal golf club, so we immediately left,” Delia told WABC.
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Prior to the strike, Delia said he did not hear any horns or sirens alerting players to get off the course.
“I guess they thought it was just going to be a passing shower,” he told WABC.
Delia said he did not know someone had been struck by lightning until police arrived and said someone had been injured at the 15th hole, which is on the “complete opposite corner” of the clubhouse.
Before authorities arrived on the scene, Delia said Mariani’s father — who he had been playing with — was administering mouth-to-mouth while other golfers were providing CPR.
Officers said they received a 911 call at approximately 1:53 p.m., and once on the scene they “provided care to the victim until paramedics arrived.”
Mariani was taken the hospital by medevac helicopter for further treatment, officials said.
The status of his condition is unknown.
