Golfer sues club after being attacked by crocodile in sand trap

NEW YORK, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- A Long Island, N.Y., man filed suit against a Mexican golf resort after be lost two fingers to a crocodile after chipping out of a sand trap.

Edward Lunger, 50, Holtsville, said he was grabbed by a croc that had been hiding in the nearby bushes and clamped down on his arm.

Lunger told the New York Post the Iberostar Cancun Golf Club knew the croc was prowling around but did nothing more than hang some yellow tape around its hideout.

"That means 'Grounds under repair' in America," said Lunger, who was rushed to a hospital where one finger was attached but two others could not be saved. He said he had to pony up more than $17,000 in advance before the emergency surgery.

Lunger's partner, Mark Martin, told the Post he watched his buddy's routine bunker shot turn into a life-and-death struggle. "All of a sudden, his arm went back, and his head went back," Martin recalled. "I saw the crocodile leap up."

Martin picked up a large rock that was nearby and dropped it on the crocodile, which had a firm grip in Lunger's arm. The blow caused the reptile to let go.

Martin made a tourniquet out of a golf towel and rushed his bleeding friend to the club house in their gold cart.