A 54-year-old golfer was knocked unconscious, allegedly stopped breathing for 10 seconds and was ultimately sent to the hospital after an altercation at The Links at Heartland Crossing in Morgan County, Indiana last Friday.

It all started when the middle-aged man confronted the group in front of him for “cutting,” despite him and his group stopping to order food at the clubhouse. Another in his group said “It wasn’t that big a deal” that the other group played through, but the man couldn’t let the “proper golf etiquette” slight go.

Witnesses said a 54-year-old man became irate after another group of golfers “cut in front” of his party. He ended up being badly beaten after refusing to apologize to a man’s wife after calling her a derogatory word.

A Brownsburg man is under arrest.https://t.co/atx8wm7vis

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The dispute turned violent when he insulted the wife of one of the men playing through, calling her group “a**holes” and telling her that she was a “c***.” Her husband, Jerry Whitaker, demanded an apology after she went “crying back to her group.” The two men then “got in each other’s faces”, according to witnesses, and after the 54-year-old declined to apologize, Whitaker proceeded to slam the agitator to the ground.

Police were told by medical staff that the man suffered seven broken ribs, a punctured lung and a broken piece of vertebrae in his back due to the confrontation. Brownsburg resident Whitaker will be charged with aggravated battery, a Level 3 felony; battery resulting in serious bodily injury, a Level 5 felony and disorderly conduct, a Class B misdemeanor.

The 54-year-old’s friends claimed that he was knocked unconscious and even stopped breathing for around 10 seconds.

A Level 3 felony in the state of Indiana can carry a prison sentence of up to 16 years.

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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com