Pro-Golfer Tripp Isenhour Gets a Legal Mulligan on Killing Protected Hawk

Tripp Isenhour may be popular with golfers but he is despised by environmentalists. The golfer is accused of intentionally killing a protected red-shouldered hawk (shown here) on at the Grand Cypress Golf Club because the bird’s chirping was interrupting his filming of an instructional video. Isenhour received a very light sentence of one year probation and 100 hours of community service. He will only have to do 40 hours of service in exchange for a small contribution to a wildlife preserve.

While Isenhour claimed to be merely trying to scare off the bird when he hit a ball at it, others with him contested his account and were upset with his actions, click here. In March, he issued the following statement:

“As soon as this happened, I was mortified and extremely upset and continue to be upset,” Isenhour said in a statement issued through his management company, SFX Golf. “I want to let everyone know there was neither any malice nor deliberate intent whatsoever to hit or harm the hawk. I was trying to simply scare it into flying away.”

The problem is that he took multiple shots and bragged before the killing shot that “I’ll get him now.” Click here. The sentence seems quite light given the opposing testimony of witnesses.

While I am not an advocate of creative sentencing, those 40 hours could be spent on a driving range as a target for golfers — just to give him an insight into his victim’s end.

For the full story, click here.