Four Golfers Are Injured When Struck by Lightning on Michigan State Course

Lightning struck four young golfers and critically injured two of them as they ran to the clubhouse at a Michigan State University golf course Monday.

The four golfers were among 240 high school students competing in the Michigan Junior Invitational tournament at the Forest Akers Golf Course. The one-day event was immediately canceled after the incident.

Michigan State spokesman Ed Zabrusky said that play was interrupted when a storm developed, and the players were told to come in from the course. The four at first decided to wait out the storm in a shelter on the course, then decided to make a dash for the clubhouse.

Brian Stanton of Corunna, Mich., one of the golfers involved, approached a woman in the clubhouse, telling her that he had been struck by lightning and that his legs were numb. He said three others were still out on the course.

Emergency squads found two of the golfers unconscious. They were given artificial resuscitation, and apparently were revived on the way to Lansing General Hospital. Stanton and the fourth boy, who was unidentified, were taken to Sparrow Hospital, in Lansing.

Scott Kelbba, 15, of Utica, Mich., was transferred from Lansing General to Ingham Medical Center, where he was in critical condition.

The other youth who had been unconscious at the scene was listed in critical condition at Lansing General. He was not immediately identified.