Golfers defend giant alligator that invaded their course in Florida

A giant alligator, despite being potentially deadly, has reportedly become a popular guest at a Florida golf course where according to CBS News, it’s become a bit of a mascot.

More from CBS Sports:

The staff believes this exceptionally large one lives in a reservoir. He crawls out and goes from pond to pond looking for food, or a potential mate.

But regulars at this course are unfazed.

“This is a great course because you see a lot of gators out here, and there’s some real big ones,” Mike Taketa told CBS News correspondent David Begnaud. “They’ll be fighting and running across so it’s a pretty interesting course. It’s fun. We like watching those guys.”

They don’t even worry when they hit golf balls near him.

Play doesn’t stop when Chubbs comes out. If golfers hit a ball close to the reptile, they just drop another one, and play through.

“He’s not a nuisance alligator,” said Powell. “We have no plans to have anybody come and take him away. He’s not hurting anybody.”

According to the report, the regulars have nicknamed the alligator Chubbs, which is actually the same name given to a giant alligator caught on a golf course in Houston last year.

More on that alligator from a Houston Chronicle report:

On Wednesday, Houston’s most popular gator wranglers were summoned to the River Pointe Golf Club in nearby Richmond to snare Chubbs, a 12-foot, 600-pound gator that was recently hanging out on one of the greens at that golf course.