THE electric storm that hit town last Wednesday afternoon left its mark rather distinctly on the second green at Narooma Golf Course.
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A bolt of lightning struck the pin in the hole, shooting electrical current through to the earth and creating intricate scorch marks on the grass.
Golf club staff recalled jumping in fright around mid-afternoon as they heard and felt a massive clap of thunder, which they presume was the guilty bolt.
The flag stick made of aluminium and fibreglass did not have visible signs of damage but the material flag was badly singed.
The lighting appears to travelled down the stick, then radiating out from the aluminium cup in the ground.
The owner of the Golfer’s Lodge on Ballingala Street actually saw the bolt hit the course at around 3pm.
The weird markings can clearly be seen radiating out just like a bolt of lightning from where the hole.
The feature was discovered the morning after the storm by the course superintendent Richard Goodridge and his greenkeeper staff who have since filled in the hole and created a new one on the green.
Narooma Golf Club general manager Dominic Connaughton said, “I’ve never seen anything like it”.
“It just goes to show how important it is not to be swinging a club when there is a storm about.”
The club posted a photo of the green on its Facebook page on Thursday which soon went viral.
The clubhouse was abuzz with excitement after 120 golfers had seen the lightning pattern while they played in the men’s comp on Thursday.
Mr Connaughton said would be interesting to see if the colour of the green intensified over the following weeks following the theory that lightning can act as a fertiliser to plants.
When lightning hits the ground a chemical reaction creates nitrates, which enrich the soil thus giving the grass a nutrient boost, although the latest report is that the lightning mark is fading fast.
