Lunar Park
| Lunar Park was a run down three par golf course that had been closed for years. The fairways were overgrown with weeds, and the ponds were covered with green, slimy algae. The once dreaded water holes were truly hazards now. Each had a unique population of rodents, snakes and scary looking insects. There were rumors of a "lagoon-like" creature that lived below the water in the pond at hole thirteen. The so called "water hazard monster" was said to be covered from head to foot with slime and hydrilla. Rumor was that the monster could move rather quickly through the water, but used a wooden shaft putter to support its weight when chasing people off the golf course. New owners eventually restored the greens to their original splendor. They even added a state-of-the-art lighting system which made playing golf at night a pleasure. Each evening, brightly colored golf carts scurried hither and yon to take happy duffers around the magnificent eighteen hole course. The once foul ponds had been restocked with fish and the algae had been eliminated. All was well until someone claimed that a golf ball was snatched from the sky while flying over the pond at the thirteenth hole. Immediately, rumors resurfaced about the "water hazard monster." Both duffers and pros trembled as they neared the dreaded hole. The putting green was finally relocated so the flight path of the ball would no longer cross the pond. Even the cart path was moved a safe distance from the presumed haunt of the slime covered monster. An occasional ball would still hook over the water. Each time it disappeared, it was never seen again. Golfers claimed that "the monster apparently did not like being bombarded with golf balls." Adding fuel to the fire, a duffer claimed to see a large fish jump from the water and inhale his low flying ball. The following evening, a circuit judge with an impeccable reputation for truth and justice, became the latest victim. Ground keepers eventually positioned motion activated cameras around the pond. The film captured an occasional golf ball that bubbled up to the water's surface. Stranger than a ball rising to the surface, was the way the water monster appeared and disappeared around the pond. The phenomenon occurred time and time again, particularly when the course was crowded. It was thought that the monster tried to lure the players to the pond so he could snatch them into the water when they tried to retrieve their golf balls, but no one dared to venture so closely. As time passed, golf ball sightings became much more frequent. Monster mania finally caused the closing of the thirteenth hole. Lunar Park was now the only seventeen hole golf course in the country. Patrons who wanted to play eighteen holes had to replay the four par number one hole. The thirteenth had been closed and off limits for months, when one day a young boy was caught on camera while fishing on the bank of the pond. Before security personnel could get to the boy, he landed a ten pound bass and disappeared. Each day, he returned to catch another very big bass and quickly leave again. Several days passed before Lunar Park security forces were able to apprehend the young angler. They asked if he had heard the rumors about the "water hazard monster." The boy laughed and said, "There was never a monster in the pond, just fish and turtles." He then confessed to catching turtles in other ponds and taking them to his dad's workshop, where he super glued Halloween masks to their shells and released them in the pond at hole thirteen. Every time a turtle swam to the surface, someone saw the face of a monster. He then began to glue golf balls and replicas of bass to the turtle shells. The pond was poorly lit compared to the putting greens, so everything appeared lifelike from a distance. When the young angler was asked why he went to such trouble to create the scary illusions, he replied, "So no one else would catch the trophy bass that lived in the pond" Be reminded that small fish have……LARGE TALES! Captain Gus Gustafson of Lake Norman Ventures, Inc. is a member of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association and a full time Professional Fishing Guide on Lake Norman, NC. Visit his web site, Fishin' with Gus! at http://www.fishingwithgus.com/ or call 704 617 6812. For additional information, e-mail him at Gus@LakeNorman.com. |
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| August 2006 |