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Topgolf ranges feature a number of targets you can aim at while you’re getting in some swings. However, some people who were playing at one location in North Carolina turned their attention to an unexpected one when a drunk driver managed to make their way onto the turf.
Most driving ranges feature flags and signs that golfers can use as targets and harness to figure out how far they’re hitting their shots. However, anyone who hits up those practice facilities on a regular basis knows the ultimate targets are the carts that are regularly deployed to scoop balls off the turf to make sure there are enough to go around.
Those vehicles are typically surrounded by a metal cage that allows whoever is tasked with driving them to safely collect balls without having to worry about getting hit by the golfers who are permitted to keep doing their thing while they’re making the rounds.
In some cases, those strikes stem from incidental contact, but a sizeable chunk of golfers will make it their mission to land a direct hit if one of them is deployed during a swing session.
Topgolf uses those carts to grab balls that failed to hit a target, but there was a different type of vehicle that managed to cause a stir in North Carolina on Sunday night.
People at the Topgolf near Charlotte University targeted an SUV being driven by a drunk driver after it made its way onto the range
The first Topgolf location opened in England at the start of the millennium, but it’s really taken off over the past decade or so by positioning itself as a relatively relaxed golfing environment where you can chow down on food and throw back some drinks while engaging in the target-based game that serves as the main attraction.
The company currently boasts more than 100 locations around the globe, including four in North Carolina. Charlotte is home to two of them: the “Southwest” outpost located (you guessed it) southwest of downtown and the “University” one situated down the road from UNC-Charlotte.
That second one appeared to be pretty hopping on Sunday night when a wild scene unfolded, as QCNews reports the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department were dispatched to that Topgolf after receiving a call concerning an SUV that drove through a fence and onto the range.
Multiple people chronicled the chaotic scene that unfolded before the cops arrived, including one TikTok user who filmed a video of the allegedly drunk driver weaving his way around the turf as people attempted to pelt the vehicle with golf balls.
At least one person was able to land a direct hit when the SUV ended up near the bays before retreating to the edge of the facility.
The unidentified driver (who was reportedly seen urinating in the parking lot before heading onto the range) caused at least $5,000 in damage to the fence he crashed through, and while it’s unclear what charges have been filed, witnesses say he was arrested at the scene shortly after midnight.