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Golfer facing charges

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Times Staff Writer

When is shooting a birdie a bad idea on a golf course? When it’s a red-shouldered hawk and you kill it by intentionally hitting it with a golf ball, which is what pro golfer Tripp Isenhour is charged with doing.

Isenhour, 39, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals and killing a migratory bird as a result of the incident, which took place Dec. 12 at Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 14 months in jail and $1,500 in fines.

Isenhour, who plays on the Nationwide Tour, was taping a video called “Shoot Like a Pro” and was interrupted by the noise of the bird, according to news reports. He eventually knocked the bird out of a tree with one of his shots.

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According to court documents, Isenhour got upset when a red-shouldered hawk began making noise, forcing another take. He began hitting balls at the bird, then 300 yards away, but gave up.

Isenhour started again when the hawk moved within about 75 yards, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer Brian Baine indicated in a report.

Isenhour allegedly said “I’ll get him now,” and aimed for the hawk. A few shots later, witnesses said he hit the hawk. The bird, protected as a migratory species, fell to the ground bleeding from both nostrils.

In a statement Thursday, Isenhour said he did not intentionally hit the bird.

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

“We ask that everyone accept my sincerest apology.”

Jethro Senger, a sound engineer, told the Associated Press, “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. 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?”

Senger said it seemed “basically like a joke” to the golfer.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that the bird was buried on the Grand Cypress property and later dug up by wildlife officials. The body has been preserved if needed for a trial, according to investigative records quoted by the newspaper.

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The prosecutor who reviewed the case for charges recommended that Isenhour do community service at Audubon Center for Birds of Prey, according to the Sentinel report. Isenhour played two full seasons on the PGA Tour. He has four victories on the Nationwide Tour.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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thomas.bonk@latimes.com

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