Timberrrr! Lightning slices a fairway landmark

Brian Jopson surveys the damaged tree. Picture / Bay Of Plenty Times

"There was a really loud clap and my colleague's head just lit up." 

A greenkeeper described the moment that lightning hit Mt Maunganui Golf Club on Wednesday, leaving golfers in shock and splintering a large tree.

Course superintendent Leo Barber said he was instructing a new staff member on the 12th hole when a large macrocarpa tree - located on the edge of the 11th fairway - was hit by lightning.

"There was a huge bang and a bright flash. It was absolutely amazing. The pressure was absolutely massive - the force around it was like ... wow."

And it was that power that wrecked one of the largest trees on the course.

"The lightning hit and just destroyed it.

"There's little chance it will recover. It has been blown to pieces."

But the after-effects of the lightning bolt were the most surreal for the greenkeeper of three years.

"I was left with this really odd tingling sensation running all through my body. I've never felt anything like it before."

MetService lead forecaster Steve Ready was not surprised by the lightning strike.

"The forecast showed showers with some heavy periods - and thunderstorms in places."

Although spectacular, he said the thunderstorms had been predicted for the Bay this week.

"There have been a number of thunderstorms over the past few days."

Golf club manager Brian Jopson said he had never heard of "anything like it before. It's really amazing - it just doesn't seem real at all."

Unlike his employee, Mr Jopson was working indoors when the bolt hit the ground.

"I was in the office working on the computer and saw a really big flash."

Minutes later a member of the public came into the club's office and told him that her husband had been knocked to the ground in the storm.

Mr Jopson said yesterday's events raised questions about safety measures that called for golfers on the course to gather under trees during thunderstorms.

"So much for taking safety measures and heading for the nearest trees when lightning hits," Mr Jopson said.

"We'll have to think about that one again."

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES