Golfer rescues driver after car plunges into canal during tournament, CA officials say

When golf tournament official Jeff Ninnemann heard over the radio that a car had plunged into a canal passing through a California golf course, he rushed over to help.

But golfer Brett Fox had already abandoned the Southern California Golf Association Amateur Net Championship to dive into the Indio canal, Ninnemann told The Washington Post.

Ninnemann jumped in after him as Fox fought to rescue the stunned driver from the sinking Nissan Pathfinder on Tuesday, April 4, The Desert Sun reported.

“When the water started filling and we could not get that door open, I was certain it was going to end a lot worse,” Ninnemann told the publication.

Fox managed to pull the driver out through a window before he returned to the tournament and “shot an 80 to finish with a two-day score of 167,” The Washington Post reported.

Firefighters took the driver to a hospital in stable condition, the Riverside County Fire Department reported on Twitter.

Indio is a city of 90,000 people about 130 miles east of Los Angeles.

This story was originally published April 5, 2023 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Golfer rescues driver after car plunges into canal during tournament, CA officials say."