He Was Just Doing His Job, but Wow What a Tackle!

We interrupt our usual monthly round-up of short strange security happenings to give a little more context on our top strange security story for June.

The setting: Canadian golfer Nick Taylor just sunk a 72-foot putt to win a playoff hole and take the 2023 RBC Canadian Open. Exuberance ensued as Canadians celebrated one of their own winning the home-country tournament for the first time in 69 years.

An event security officer, though, spied danger when he saw a man, looking to join the impromptu party on the putting green, run on to the course spraying a bottle of champagne. The security officer sprung to action, charging at the man and slamming him to the turf with a textbook American football tackle. Police, also on the green, quickly moved in to ensure the man would pose no further threat and could be dealt with appropriately.

You can watch it all unfold here:

And if you’ve made it this far in the write up, and you don’t already know what happened, you’re wondering where the strange is in this story: It’s not unusual for fans to show a little too much exuberance, and the security officer acted appropriately, just as he should have.

Well, yes, but—and this is where the story becomes an unusual security story—the suspect in this case was Adam Hadwin, who had just placed 12th in the tournament and was one of several Canadian golfers waiting to celebrate with his friend and countryman.

Here’s another look. In this shot, you can see Taylor’s caddie realize what is happening and try to alert the gathering security contingent around the downed Hadwin that the golfer was in fact not a threat.

The entire episode then took on a life of its own. Hadwin’s wife, Jessica Hadwin, had some fun with the incident on Twitter, eventually reporting that Hadwin was unharmed: “Sorry to leave y’all hanging, had to get the toddler ready for bed,” she tweeted. “I’m thrilled to report that @ahadwingolf is still among the land of the living, and in true Canadian form apologized to the security guard for being tackled.”

Omg I can’t handle these different angles. The security guard’s laser focus on his target. Adam’s commitment to the giant bottle of champagne. So many things to take in with every new POV 💀😂 https://t.co/4SlIfznmJK

— Jessica Hadwin (@jessicahadwin) June 12, 2023

While no one can top Jessica’s take on the incident, others had fun, too. The U.S. Golf Association left a note in Hadwin’s locker at the following week’s U.S. Open saying that his safety and security would be their top responsibility.

Ready for a great week @usopengolf. Thanks to the @USGA for keeping me safe! pic.twitter.com/qbUbOkvWvK

— adam hadwin (@ahadwingolf) June 12, 2023

And now, for the rest of our Strange Security round-up as regularly scheduled…

The usual caveat: Security is a serious business, and we in no way mean to diminish any suffering that Adam Hadwin or anybody else suffers as a result of these stories.

Restaurant used fake priest to hear workers’ confessions, feds say—I’m sure it sounded like a genius security approach when it was dreamt up, but having a fake priest/investigator ask your employees if they’re stealing from you seems likely to come back to bite you. And it did for this California restaurateur.

Velociraptor statue heist ends with 3 arrests in South Dakota—Private security for the win! In this story, a security officer witnessed three people stealing a 4-foot-tall velociraptor statue from a prehistoric dinosaur exhibit and called police. The dinosaur was returned and the alleged perpetuators were caught.

Snakenado! No for real—When Cyclone Biporjoy struck India this month, there was an unexpected consequence: At least 19 people were rushed to the hospital with snakebites. “Severe weather events such as this can cause wildlife to become severally displaced, washing up in unexpected places.”

Vulture surveillance system alerts Zambian park to poisonings—Who needs cameras? This Reuters report detailed a unique security approach to locate attempts by local farmers to poison large cats and other predators preying on their cattle.