Golf dispute ends with injury, conviction

KENT, Wash., July 10 (UPI) -- A golf dispute in King County, Wash., led to one man receiving a debilitating head injury and another receiving a jail sentence, authorities say.

Prosecutors said the conflict between two golf foursomes at the Auburn Golf Course last July was based on the lead foursome playing too slowly for the foursome trailing behind them, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Thursday.

Nicholas Shampine, a member of the lead foursome, said he felt compelled to strike James Compton, a member of the trailing foursome, after the conflict turned physical.

"I though that my brother was in trouble and, you know, I just, I snapped," prosecutors quoted Shampine as saying about the wrestling match that occurred between Compton and Shampine's brother, Greg. "I just walked towards him, and I just hit him with the club."

The club strike left Compton with a broken cheekbone, skull fracture and a subdural hematoma that he says has left him with regular headaches and nausea.

Shampine received a 21-month sentence for second-degree assault in King County Superior Court, The Seattle Times reported.