SLIPPERY ROCK — From a tragedy 50 years ago today, a lesson can still be learned.

Take lightning seriously on a golf course.

“I still see golfers pay little to no attention when a siren goes off indicating lightning in the area,” David Todd, 80, of Penn Township said. “That’s very upsetting to me. It angers me.”

Todd has good reason for such emotion. He was one of 10 men taking shelter in a small wooden shed on the 16th green at the Armco (now Oakview) golf course when lightning struck that shed 50 years ago.

“I was thrown 15 or 20 feet and knocked unconscious,” Todd said. “Four men were killed instantly.

“Some of us were able to get back to the clubhouse and get some help for the injured golfers out there. I’ll never forget that experience. It was a nightmare.

“I was in the hospital for two days ... just total shock,” he added.

The lightning struck during an Armco employee golf outing. Killed were Butler residents Eugene Horan, John Katrych, Andrew Dobda Jr. and Allen Pollock.

Todd was among six others who were hospitalized with injuries.

An extensive study done by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on lightning strikes on golf courses in 2001 has helped reduce such fatalities by 75 percent since. Still, there have been eight people killed by lightning on golf courses since 2006.

“I still don’t think golfers take the threat of lightning seriously enough, not at all,” Oakview Golf Club general manager Jesse Horner said. “When I was at Olde Stonewall (in Ellwood City), there was a state-of-the-art system in place that quickly alerted golfers to any approaching storm.

“At smaller facilities like Oakview, that system doesn’t exist, but a siren is sounded at the first sight of lightning and golfers need to heed that warning immediately.”

Oakview has six lightning shelters in place on the course — an unusually high number.

“Most golf courses have one such shelter per nine holes,” Horner said. “But after what happened here 50 years ago, this facility took extreme precautions so that it would never happen again.

“People still don’t totally understand how attractive golf courses are to lightning. Irrigation systems at the courses are metal, a golf club is a metal rod ... not a good combination during a storm.”

USGA Rules of Golf (Rule 6-8) allow players to discontinue if they believe there is a danger from lightning. No other sport has regulations regarding lightning.

“Golfers need to respect it,” Todd said of lightning. “A golf cart will not offer protection. That’s a myth that needs to be wiped out. Standing or parking the cart under a tree isn’t smart, either.”

Horner said most lightning tragedies on golf courses occur during “the second wave” of lightning strikes.

“Golfers see a storm die down or clear and they figure it’s safe to go back out,” he said. “But lightning is still in the area.

“The story about the tragedy here 50 years ago is framed and on the wall here. Anybody who plays golf should be aware of what can happen.”

Todd is more than aware. He lived it.

“I’m lucky,” he said. “I got a second chance. Most victims of lightning don’t.”