Dinosaurs may well be a common sight on mini golf courses these days, but some players in America came across what looked like the real thing this week.

Golfers in South Carolina were forced to pause their game when one of the biggest alligators anyone has probably ever seen just wandered across the course and into the nearby body of water.

While the alligator wasn’t quite the size of the ‘biggest great white shark’ ever caught on camera, it might well be enough to put a lot of people off visiting the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island in South Carolina, USA.

Fortunately, alligators are thought to be far less aggressive than crocodiles, as you certainly wouldn’t want to end up in a fight with the giant beast.

Thankfully, alligators are a pretty rare sight over in the UK but those in the US are perhaps more accustomed to seeing them, and they can even sometimes sneak up on unsuspecting swimmers.

Popular X account Rick Golfs shared the video online and it quickly went viral.

Alligators are a common site on golf courses but they’re not usually this big (David Cannon/Getty Images)

He said: “Insane crocodile at the Kiawah Ocean Course! Props to the cameraman for getting close.

“For a $600 green fee, you not only get to shoot a 103, but you get to meet this specimen!

“My buddy sent me this. They literally walked right by him and then he crossed over the tee box behind them. Crazy.

“I know they are technically not interested in eating us. But I’m still not sure I want to tempt fate.”

While $600 ($450) is a hefty fee for a round of golf, these lads definitely had a game that they will never forget, so maybe they got their money’s worth on this occasion.

The alligator, which was simply out for a stroll in the sun, stole the spotlight as the golfers were teeing off, but fortunately the sportsmen survived to say ‘see you later’.

One is never short of balls on a golf course, but the cameraman certainly didn’t let the fear get the best of him as he got a close-up shot of the astronomical alligator as it disappeared from the green into the water, much like most of my golf shots seem to.

Fans were left shocked and also amazed by the sheer size of the reptile, responding in the comments of the original video.

One said: “They told me dinosaurs are extinct.”

Another declared: “Brave camera work.”

Another added: “That is truly insane.”

Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.

The boy who told the court that his mum drowned his half sister has broken his silence after 17 years.

Seven-year-old AJ Hutto took to the stand in February 2008 when his mother Amanda Lewis stood trial for first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.

On 8 August 2007, her seven-year-old daughter, Adrianna Elaine Hutto, was found unresponsive in her family’s pool in Esto, Florida.

Lewis called emergency services and reported that her little girl had been discovered not breathing. Adrianna was pronounced dead an hour after she was transported to Bay Medical Hospital.

The whole incident was deemed an accidental drowning, until AJ revealed in a videotaped interview with police what he saw.

AJ said he witnessed his mum ‘dunk’ Adrianna in the pool as punishment for misbehaving.

Adrianna Elaine Hutto was found responsive in the family’s pool (ITV)

“Mama dunked my sister. She done some stuff that she ain’t suppose so my mama got mad, so she throwed her in the pool,” he said.

When the case went to court, the prosecutor asked him to detail why he’d drawn a picture of stick figures around the pool.

“That’s my mama,” he said. “Killing my sister.”

The boy said Lewis was ‘putting her hand over her face’.

In 2008, Lewis was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in jail, with an extra 30 years for child abuse, The Daily Record reports.

Lewis has always maintained her innocence, appearing in Piers Morgan’s ITV series, Killer Women, in 2016 to ‘prove that I’m innocent. Proving what he said I didn’t do’.

She said she ‘couldn’t believe they were doing this’ when her son testified against her, adding (via The Independent): “I love him no matter what, I will always love him. He is in no way blame him for what happened.”

Looking back on the court proceedings, however, AJ told the Daily Mail: “I don’t believe I was, what they’ve called, coached or anything like that.

Amanda E. Lewis received life in jail (Handout)

“I just told them exactly what I saw word for word.”

At first, AJ said he didn’t notice his mum in court after being separated from her for a number of months.

“It was heartbreaking. You know, she’s my mother,” he added. “But there was also some relief that what we were going through at the time was finally coming to an end.

“It’s court appointed that we cannot see each other, and I’ve wanted to keep it that way, just so nothing’s getting brought back up.

“All the feelings and emotions and the traumas getting brought back into light.”

AJ Hutto’s testimony in the case against Amanda E. Lewis proved to be a turning point (ITV)

The now 24-year-old said his adoptive family was a much ‘happier household’, and it was ‘almost a 360 difference’.

“Just darkness, trauma. A lot of abuse. Physically abused, both Adrianna and I were hit,” AJ continued.

“The difference between the two families was night and day.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had to talk about it, so I kind of remember some things about my previous life.

“And for the most part, I remember the abuse. Sometimes we wouldn’t even see it coming. It was literally sometimes we were blindsided.”

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.

Jaw-dropping footage of the moment shows the moment a man was caught blindsided and almost eaten by a tiger shark.

The footage was originally uploaded to YouTube back in May 2023, though the passage of time has not made the clip any less terrifying.

Local fisherman Scott Haraguchi was involved in a near-death encounter with a shark, as it rammed into his kayak off the coast of the American island of Hawaii.

But clearly, Haraguchi knew what he was doing, reacting quickly and using his foot to try and kick the shark’s eye to get it to flee.

He can be heard screaming ‘Tiger shark! Tiger shark rammed me!’ in the video, which was uploaded to the channel Hawaii Nearshore Fishing.

The footage is enough to make you jump (Hawaii Nearshore Fishing via Storyful)

Since being uploaded, it has accumulated over 2.6 million views and over a thousand comments, as viewers were naturally intrigued by the shark attack.

At the end of the video, he wrote: “Dunno how I did that but my foot actually pushes the shark off near its vulnerable eye.

“Thank you Jesus!”

Taking to the description to explain the situation in more depth, he told subscribers that the ordeal took place on 12 May 2023 on the ‘Windward side of O’ahu’, which is part of the Hawaiian island chain and also home to the state capital, Honolulu.

According to the kayaker, he was just ’55ft’ and ‘less than two miles from shore’ when the apex predator appeared.

He explained further: “Heard a ‘whooshing’ sound, looked up and saw a wide brown thing on the side of the kayak. Thought it was a turtle at first. Happened so fast.”

The man also revealed he ‘didn’t realise’ it at the time, but he took his left foot out of the water to brace himself from impact and ‘actually pushed the shark’s head off with it’.

Now that’s what I call a real-life man versus beast situation.

According to KITV4, Haraguchi was not sure what ‘prompted’ the encounter but said he noticed ‘what appeared to be a wounded seal’ shortly after the incident took place.

“He believes the shark may have mistaken his kayak for its wounded prey,” the outlet reports.

He expertly managed to kick near the shark’s eye (Hawaii Nearshore Fishing via Storyful)

Haraguchi continued: “If you asked me to do that again, even without the shark, I don’t think I’d have that flexibility. I actually only thought the shark rammed the kayak until I saw the video at home.”

The video has since received dozens of comments from viewers left in total shock by the footage.

One social media user wrote: “That’s insane! Happy that you’re safe!”

A second commented: “I’m so glad that you are okay. I literally screamed when it attacked you. I probably would have passed out and my body found somewhere in the deep blue.”

“Amazing how fast that attack was initiated. No time to do anything but panic. Glad you were ok,” echoed a third.

A different user joked: “This is why I go surfing in my swimming pool. Waves are a bit underwhelming, but safety is tip top!”

Talk about a close shave.

Part of the fun of going on a rollercoaster really is the fear you experience while you’re on it.

Sure, you might act like you’re well hard, but there’s always that moment on a ride when you at least think, ‘oh s**t’, or question your life choices.

But of course, you’re never going to a theme park with a real, true worry that you might die – unless that’s your plan, and you’re on the hypothetical ‘euthanasia rollercoaster’.

And yet, this guy was faced with a real shocker when he was left scared for his life.

Shown in shocking footage, the man ended up having to jump out of a moving rollercoaster in a ‘life-saving’ moment.

Choosing to remain anonymous, the man was riding the Desert Storm at Castles N’ Coasters in Phoenix, Arizona, US, on Sunday (24 November).

The tallest, fastest and first looping roller coaster in the state, it features two vertical loops, a curved drop, and two helices, with a peak height of 90 feet and a drop of 80 feet, going at a maximum speed of 50mph.

So with all that, you’d want to be sure you’re strapped in nice and tight, right?

Well, the bloke claimed to NBC News affiliate KPNX that wasn’t quite the case.

“We start the climb and you hear the click of the normal rollercoaster,” he explained. “We get just about to the top and I hear a click different from the click of the chain taking us up and so I checked my lap bar one last time and it released.”

He got out while it was still moving. (Arizona’s Family)

Claiming he had ‘mere seconds’ to act on whether he stuck it out or got himself off, the guy decided to climb out of the ride while it was still moving.

In a slam of the ride staff, he claims his safety bar wasn’t physically checked before the ride began, and that they weren’t aware what was happening while he was up in the air.

“I think the scariest part was the negligence of their part and just the absolute carelessness that they had throughout the entire thing,” he said.

“She (the member of staff) should have been watching that car and when she saw me climbing out, she should have been able to hit an emergency release.”

In the shocking footage, the man can be seen climbing out of the moving coaster and onto the emergency stairs alongside him.

He added that he’s filed an incident report with the park.

LADbible has contacted Castles N’ Coasters for comment.