Lightning strikes for local teen at Topgolf
SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — A viral video shows the moment lightning struck a golf ball in midair in San Antonio.
Tomas Gomez was enjoying some post-finals fun with friends at Topgolf on May 28 when it had begun storming. As conditions began to worsen, Gomez and his friends had agreed it was time to wrap up so he asked his brother’s girlfriend Arlette Ibarra to record his final drive.
The video starts with Ibarra and friends making goofy faces for the camera before quickly cutting over to Gomez just after he takes his swing.
Lightning strikes just as the ball catches some air and cracking thunder causes the building to shake. Top Golf said the ball was going 88 mph when it was struck.
“As I see it going up in the air, just a big old lightning bolt comes out of the sky and just hits it,” Gomez said. “But at that moment, I didn’t recognize what happened because of how loud it was and how bright it was. My first instinct was to just run.”
Gomez said he turned around to run and slipped on rainwater that had covered the floor because of the storm’s gusting winds. The video captures his clutch save and the good-natured yet bewildered laughs of his friends.
“Everything just kind of shook for a bit because of how intense [the lightning strike] was,” Gomez said.
The video was initially posted to Gomez’s TikTok account and TopGolf caught wind of it and asked for permission to repost it.
The video has been viewed more than 8 million times on TopGolf’s TikTok account and more than 6 million times across viral Instagram accounts like Barstool Sports.
@topgolfReply to @topgolf *Original version* Thor wasn’t playin’. [Everyone was safely evacuated] 📹: via @tgom2 @arletteibarra ##golftok ##fyp ##storm♬ original sound – Topgolf
Ibarra said she never thought a video she recorded would go viral. She said they’re both getting texts from tons of people about the clip and how crazy it is to see it posted all over.
“It just blows my mind,” Gomez said. “I’m thinking like, wow, the whole world is seeing this. It’s international.”
Top Golf posted that guests were evacuated shortly after the video was recorded.