Golfer is injured by wayward deer

Monday, October 23, 2000

By George Barnes
Telegram & Gazette Staff

WINCHENDON-- Incidents involving deer are not unusual in rural Winchendon, but the call yesterday from the Winchendon Country Club was a new one for Police Officer Joseph Kaye.
         A deer passing through the golf course around 11:15 a.m. panicked and raced through a putting green, running down an Ashburnham woman before taking off.
         Officer Kaye said the woman, identified by an employee at the golf course as Ann Greene of Ashburnham, was struck in the face by the deer and had to be taken away by ambulance.
         “It took off across the putting green and ran into her just as she was about to putt,” he said. “It just ran her right down.”
         Eric Adamson, afternoon storekeeper at the golf course's pro shop, said two deer were wandering near the golf course and one had found its way onto the porch of the clubhouse. He said something frightened it and it ran off, spooking the other deer.
         “It ran up over one of the tees and jumped down onto the practice green where Ann was trying to putt,” he said. “It was trying to jump over her when it hit her.”
         Mr. Adamson said Mrs. Greene suffered facial injuries he believes were caused by the deer's knees striking her when it jumped.
         Mrs. Greene was taken by Winchendon Fire Department ambulance to Heywood Hospital, where she was treated for her injuries and released.
         The golf course is in a sparsely populated area near the Winchendon School. With large tracts of woods not far away, it is not unusual to see deer passing through, Mr. Adamson said.

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