Sun City man who survived near-drowning at golf course talks about the ordeal

PHOENIX (FOX 10) -- A Sun City man is speaking out and sharing how he survived from a near-drowning while trying to retrieve his golf ball on Friday.

72-year-old Jon Dawson was in the hospital over the weekend, recovering from the incident at the PalmBrook Country Club. Dawson said If he was in that water another minute, he would not have lived. Dawson is finally back home from the hospital, but he says he doesn't remember much because he fell unconscious.

"I got beat up pretty good," said Dawson.

Dawson is covered in bruises and cuts on his face and arms after his near-death experience.

"I would say another minute and I would have been long gone," said Dawson.

While at the golf course with his golf club the Desert Rats, Dawson says he tried to pick up his golf ball. It was something he has done many times before.

"I could see the ball," said Dawson. "It was no more than two, three feet in the water."

But then, Dawson lost his footing and fell in the pond face first. That's when he was struggling to make his way out.

"There was a current coming towards me and I couldn't swim back to the shore," said Dawson.

Dawson says he eventually couldn't keep his balance on the slippery ground or fight his way out of the current. He went under.

"I was out there fighting around for a minute or two," said Dawson.

Luckily, Dawson's golf partners were nearby and pulled him to safety. The paramedics arrived shortly after that, but Dawson says the next thing he remembered was waking up in the ER. He says now he is just thankful to be alive and to be surrounded by friends who risked their own lives to save his.

"Fortunately there were a couple of heroes that got me out of there," said Dawson, who went on to say he had an appointment with friends to go golfing on Monday, but cancelled it. He says he is going to take a week off.