A 52-year-old Winfield, Kansas, man sat in the Sedgwick County Jail on a $50,000 bond after police say an apology for a bad golf shot spiraled into a brawl that left one man unconscious and another struck in the head with a golf club.
Scott Denning approached three men at Arthur B. Sim Golf Course in Wichita on a Friday evening to apologize for an errant shot, according to the Wichita Police Department. What started as a conversation turned into an argument, then a physical altercation, and then, police say, Denning grabbed a golf club and went after two of the men.
Officers arrived at the course around 6:20 p.m. after receiving a call about a disturbance. By the time police pieced together the preliminary details, the damage was done: a 38-year-old Wichita man had been knocked unconscious, and a 52-year-old Wichita man had been struck in the head with the club. A 28-year-old Wichita man was also involved in the altercation.
The Wichita Police Department's account paints a picture of rapid escalation. Denning, who had traveled from Winfield, a small city about 45 miles southeast of Wichita, walked up to the three men to say sorry for the wayward shot. An argument broke out. A physical fight followed.
Then it got worse. OutKick reported on the police department's account of what happened next:
"Investigators were told the 52-year-old Winfield man then chased the 28-year-old and 52-year-old Wichita men while armed with a golf club, striking the 52-year-old Wichita man in the head."
Police did not say who threw the first punch. The preliminary investigation established that Denning approached the group and that an argument preceded the brawl, but the department has not publicly stated who escalated from words to fists. What is clear is that Denning ended up armed with a club and chasing people across a golf course.
Denning did not walk away from the fight unscathed. He required hospital treatment before police could book him. When they did, early Saturday morning at the Sedgwick County Jail, his booking photo showed a face that was severely swollen, evidence that the brawl had been violent on all sides.
Prosecutors hit Denning with five charges: aggravated assault, aggravated battery, assault, battery, and criminal damage to property. His bond was set at $50,000. As of the following Tuesday afternoon, he remained behind bars.
None of the three Wichita men were arrested. Police described the investigation as ongoing but offered no indication that additional charges were forthcoming for anyone else involved.
The police account leaves several gaps. The condition of the 38-year-old man who was knocked unconscious has not been publicly disclosed, whether his injuries were serious, whether he was hospitalized, or whether he has recovered. The same goes for the 52-year-old Wichita man who took a golf club to the head.
The criminal damage to property charge raises its own question: what property was damaged, and how? Police have not said whether the damage involved a golf cart, course equipment, or something else entirely. The nature of the original errant shot, whether it hit a person, a cart, or simply landed too close for comfort, also remains unexplained.
Denning's legal representation, if any, has not been publicly identified. The three Wichita men have not been named by police.
A round of golf is supposed to be the tamest afternoon a grown man can have. When an apology for a bad shot ends with a club used as a weapon, one man unconscious, and another sitting in jail with a face swollen beyond recognition, something went wrong long before anyone teed off.
