LI women get pranked by 'Impractical Jokers' on Dix Hills Golf Course
Deborah Athanasio DeFalco of East Northport, left, Sal Vulcano of "Impractical Jokers" and Elaine Portannese of Huntington at the Dix Hills Park Golf Course. Credit: Elaine Portannese
At the Dix Hills Park Golf Course on Monday afternoon Deborah Athanasio DeFalco had just finished teeing off when she got teed off.
With her golf buddy Elaine Portannese, DeFalco was on the green at the fourth hole, getting ready to putt — except some schmo was already there "almost on the ground, pushing the ball with his hand into the hole! And I'm thinking, 'What the heck?' Then the guy was in his golf cart, taking loudly on the phone" — a golfing no-no. "He's doing a business call, talking about mergers and acquisitions, and all the other people golfing were just going to have to wait."
It got worse. "Both of our balls are on the green," DeFalco, 53, of East Northport, recalled, "and he takes the golf cart onto the green and runs over my girlfriend's ball! He drove his tire over the ball," embedding it in the ground. When the two women objected, the mysterious man backed off and began complaining into the phone. "They're telling me I can't drive on the green!"
After this, "He began driving on the side [of the green] in circles," DeFalco said. "I'm thinking, 'Is he high on drugs?' But he's speaking perfectly fine. So he drives around in circles, stops at the bottom of the hill, gets out of the cart, and he's, like, dizzy — he can't walk straight. So then he gets on the ground and rolls down the hill. I'm on the green and I'm looking for security."
Portannese decided to ignore the antics and started walking to the next hole. "We both left," said DeFalco. But when they turned a corner they saw production people and realized, she said, "It's 'Impractical Jokers'!" — the truTV hidden-camera series starring Brian "Q" Quinn, James "Murr" Murray, Sal Vulcano and Lynbrook's Joe Gatto. "Hysterical!" she said. "Too funny!"
The two returned to their game, and near the ninth hole discovered the show's production tent. "We took pictures with Sal," the man who'd been going gaga on the green, DeFalco said cheerily. "He said, 'You guys were great.' I thought it was fun. And they did say my face was priceless!"
The episode with that segment is set to air Nov. 8.
