Steven Cross took to the witness stand in the Launceston Supreme Court on Friday during a trial into the attack at the Park Hotel at Invermay in November, 2015.

Mr Cross told the jury he had been on a golf day with both the alleged victim, Christian Mark Whiteman, and the accused, Jamie Alexander Collins.

Mr Collins has pleaded not guilty to intentionally causing bodily harm when he hit Mr Whiteman in the head with a golf club, leaving him with severe brain injuries.

The jury previously heard from another witness who said Mr Cross was talking with Mr Whiteman when the incident unfolded.

Mr Cross said he was about 10 metres away and did not see the attack because he dropped a beer on the ground

He told the jury he was looking down, scraping up the beer and “next thing I know, [Christian’s] just on the ground”. 

Mr Cross said he called triple-zero and handed his phone to someone else because he was “in no state to talk to anyone”.  

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He also said he did not see Mr Collins at any point when Mr Whiteman was struck.

The defence case is not disputing that the accused “swung the golf club”, but is arguing his intention.

Both the prosecution and defence have said the alleged victim and the accused were on a bus earlier in the day, travelling back from a golf course, when a heated argument broke out.

Another witness, Amy Evans, told the jury Mr Collins threatened to kill Mr Whiteman during the argument, which involved two other men on the bus. 

Defence lawyer Greg Richardson suggested it was Mr Whiteman that had been arguing aggressively.

When raised with Mr Cross, who was sitting at the back of the bus when the argument ensued, he told the court it was “loud as” and “you couldn’t hear what the person next to you was saying”.

Throughout the first two days of the trial, the jury has been shown CCTV footage from the Park Hotel on the day of the incident and physically visited the venue to view the scene.

The trial before Justice Michael Brett will continue on Monday with more witnesses expected to take the stand, including other members of the social club that took part in the golf day.