BG man trapped when tree crushes golf cart

A Bowling Green golfer taking refuge from the storm this evening was crushed by a tree limb and lifeflighted to a Toledo area hospital.

Around 5:15 p.m., two golfers at the Country Club golf course were trying to get out of the rain and took shelter under a tree at the south end of the course, near Conneaut Avenue.

According to Bowling Green Fire Captain Lucas Ward, the golfers almost instantly heard a large limb start cracking.

BG firefighters by crushed golf cart at BG Country Club.

One of the men escaped, but the other was pinned as the roof of the golf cart was crushed. Tom Garcia, of the country club, confirmed the name of the injured man as Mike Gagen. He was trapped between the seat and the tree. The limb that broke was very large, with the base estimated at nearly four-feet wide, Ward said.

Gagen, who is an equipment operator for the city of Bowling Green, was freed at 5:38 p.m.

“The tree was very unstable, so we had to be careful to not make the wrong moves,” Ward said.

A tow truck was used to stabilize the base of the tree while firefighters used air bags to help extricate Gagen.

Gagen, who was alert the entire time, was transported to Wood County Hospital, then taken by air ambulance to a Toledo area hospital.