The Ghost on the Golf Course - Part One

There is a story told in Victoria, which is well known to every school child.

The tale has appeared in newspapers for many decades. You may hear it repeated in bars, around campfires, or by the operators of Ghost Tours. It is the story of a gruesome murder-suicide which occurred on a golf course in 1936 - and of the haunting by an extremely vengeful and dangerous ghost.

I want you to know I researched this story thoroughly. I read books and watched videos. I spoke to people who claim to have seen the ghost. The more I learned the more one question kept running through my mind: Where are all the photographs? You know what? I'm a photographer. If anyone could capture this ghost I felt certain it would be me. If only I had never begun this quest... It has terrified me ever since. It has changed my life and shaken me to my very core because it seems the ghost has now made me the target of her anger! Would you like to hear the story?

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Doris Gravelin was murdered by her estranged husband Victor and her body was stashed on the golf course beneath some rocks and driftwood beside the shore. Victor went missing and was not found until a month later, his body entangled in seaweed a hundred yards offshore. In his pockets were the shoes worn by Doris on the night of her murder.

Prowling the shoreline at dusk

Is there something about me which allows me to see ghosts? What about my camera - is it defective? I never did send it back to Nikon for that recall... I don't know, but from the moment I first set foot on the golf course, I felt the presence there. It is angry, it is relentless. Doris cries out for justice and will let nothing stand in her way. She is vicious and over the years has become almost pure evil. If she were not the victim I would have no sympathy for her at all. She is what I call a classical ghost, dressed in white - her wedding dress as it turns out. She floats in the air, she screams although the sound is only heard in my mind. She is hungry for revenge and above all, she is incredibly fast!

I visited the golf course every night for weeks. I could always feel her presence, but it took a while before Doris began to appear for me. It was longer still before I learned to capture her photograph, but I was hooked immediately.

On the path

The first thing you should know if you venture out onto the golf course at night is you should take care to not attract her attention. If you see her, stand still. Avoid eye contact at all costs. If you're lucky she will pass by and leave you alone... but if she sees you, even from a great distance, she will instantly appear before you. I believe she is still searching for Victor and she wants him to pay. Does she not know Victor is dead? She surely wants somebody dead and if your name is not Victor I believe she will happily accept you as a temporary substitute! If she confronts you, the only thing to do is stand your ground. Eventually, she will fade away like the mist at dawn. Eventually...

She Rises

Here is where her body was discovered, hidden behind some logs and rocks. The temperature plummeted when I approached this spot. A hot summer night instantly became frigid and I had to fight the urge to flee in terror. I waited for a moment and then from the tall grass she arose...

I have since learned that the ghost sightings repeat themselves like actors rehearsing a play - or like scenes from a movie playing on a loop. Most sighting reports have basically the same outline and details. There is the scene at the bell on the sixth green. In another scene, she appears by the road where she will try and often succeed in causing car crashes! Did I mention how fast she is? Fast enough that I believe she can appear in two locations at once!

Let's see, what else... Oh yes! She dances beneath the full moon! She also terrorizes groups of walkers and can even summon the wind at will. I've worked on this project for so long I have succeeded in photographing each act of this play. And now after all these years, I fear she has begun to write new acts for the play, and that she is including me in the story!

Would you like to hear the story?