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A women's tournament went on as planned at the Myakka Pines
Golf Club in Englewood, on Florida's west coast, as the gator,
estimated at 12 to 13 feet (3.6 to 4 meters) long, reposed in
full view of about 100 participants, said Mickie Zada, the
club's general manager.
"If we stopped playing because of alligators, we'd never have
golfers," Zada said.
Zada said she had spent much of Wednesday morning fielding calls
from reporters asking whether the photo, taken by a golfer on
Friday, was doctored to make the alligator appear larger.
"This gentleman is well into his 80s. He wouldn't even know
Photoshop," Zada said.
While more than 200,000 people had viewed the Facebook photo as
of Tuesday, according to the club, the alligator is far from the
first - or even the biggest - to show up on the course.
A 15-footer (4.5-metre long one), nicknamed "Big George," hung
around for years until his death, Zada said.
Despite nearly daily alligator sightings at the course, none
have attacked a person in the club's 37 years, Zada said, owing
in part to a strict policy against feeding the animals.
Dangerous confrontations between humans and alligators usually
stem from people feeding them, Florida wildlife officials have
said.
The new alligator has yet to be given a moniker, but that may
soon change, Zada said.
"We might name him Viral," she said.
(Editing by Jonathan Kaminsky and Sandra Maler)
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