Golfer Accused Of Biting Nose Off Competitor After Post-Round Argument

51-year-old American faces up to seven years in prison after being charged with biting nose off competitor

A golfer puts a golf ball on a tee
(Image credit: Getty Images)

In one of the most shocking incidents in memory connected to a game of golf, a golfer has been accused of biting the nose off a competitor after an argument about their game.

51-year-old Mark Wells is accused of biting the nose off his fellow golfer while the two had a heated argument in a casino car park in Biloxi, Mississippi in the USA.

Things can often get heated on the golf course, but it’s usually a battle between a golfer and his game or course conditions, as it’s not exactly a combative sport that provokes too many arguments or physical confrontations.

Whatever happened out on the course though must have been something as the two golfers involved had argued about it all day until matters really boiled over into a violent altercation.

Bay St Louis police chief Toby Schwartz said officers responded to a reported assault at the Hollywood Casino in Biloxi, where they found the victim with a severe facial injury.  

"The investigation determined that suspect, Mark Curtis Wells, bit the nose off of the victim," Mr Schwartz said.

The suspect initially ran away from the scene but later turned himself in to the police where he has been charged with ‘felony mayhem’.

Local TV reports on the incident say the victim was taken to hospital but also added that his nose had not been recovered from the scene.

The charge of ‘felony mayhem’ can carry up to seven years in prison and is described as a “premeditated crime committed with the intent to kill in which the suspect mutilates, disfigures, disables or destroys someone's tongue, eye, lip, nose, limb or another body part".

It seems like rather a large price to pay, for both golfers, for an argument that emanated just from 18 holes of golf at a resort course.

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Paul Higham
Contributor

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website.  Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.