GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- An Arizona golfer faces criminal charges after he first tossed and then struck a 12-year-boy with his golf club, police said.

Nathan Moore, 37, is accused of attacking the boy during a round of golf earlier this month after the child allegedly picked up Moore's ball, KPHO-TV in Phoenix reported.

"It escalated into a confrontation, and at some point Mr. Moore picked up one of the children and threw him into the bushes and struck him with a golf club," said John Rowan with the Goodyear Police Department.

Witnesses told police not only did Moore hit the child with his golf club, he went right back on the fairway and kept playing.

Police were immediately called and officers arrested him.

"He should be charged with assault," said golfer Darel Small. "Whether it's a kid or somebody else, you don't go around beating them up because he picked up a golf ball."

KPHO stopped by Moore's home to get his side of the story, but he wasn't there.

His neighbor, Marietta Bloise, is convinced there must be some kind of misunderstanding.

"He's a very quiet man, not someone who loses his temper," Bloise said.

The 12-year-old boy was struck in the leg and suffered an assortment of cuts and bruises, police said.

Golf course officials said no one is allowed on the course if they aren't actually playing, so it's likely the 12-year-old and his friends shouldn't have been on the course in the first place, officers said.

However, police said that doesn't justify what the golfer is accused of doing.