A hot air balloon made an emergency landing Wednesday evening on a golf course in The Villages.
The balloon landed on the eighth green of Fox Run golf course at Glenview Country Club, as a precaution as they were running out of daylight and didn’t think they could make it to the polo fields.
The Villages Balloon Festival is set for this weekend at the polo fields. It kicks off Friday.
A plan was put into motion to tow the balloon by golf cart back to the closest road to be recovered by their chase crew. A local resident volunteered his cart to tow the balloon back up the 8th fairway to Talley Ridge Drive where the chase truck was waiting. The pilot of the hot air balloon lifted the balloon off the ground by a couple feet and the golf cart towed it to the chase truck waiting on Talley Ridge Drive.
Many residents who live on the 8th Hole of Fox Run came out to witness the event as well as inquisitive people in the area. The operation was a success.