Golfers are a-holes

Pretty sure this happened Friday between 11:30am and 6pm. Most likely around 2:30-3:30pm while we were doing demo on the kitchen. My brother saw some golfers eyeballing us while we were in the driveway. Typically they wouldn't notice us or be looking our direction.

Called the course and was told that they had two foursomes playing Friday. Both had booked online, so the course was going to email them to see if anyone would fess up. The first group we saw from inside, and my brother commented that it was funny they'd be playing in the rain. I can't see any way they'd have been able to do it without us noticing, so it had to be the later group. The kicker is that they had to have come to retrieve their ball from within the fence around the pool as we couldn't find it when we looked.

We've probably had 10 golfers hit our house with balls while we were home and noticed. I'd assume more than double hit the house without us noticing. Each time, I'll typically go out on the deck and look for damage. They can't miss me. They know I'm there and know they hit the house. 9/10, they just play through and don't even acknowledge me. Only one of those ever came up to ask me if there was any damage.

This can only lead me to conclude that most golfers are a-holes.

That sucks but is why I would never buy a house on a golf course.

Isn't the ball INSIDE your house?

I'd have ballistic glass installed in all course-facing windows.

BirdOPrey5 said:

Isn't the ball INSIDE your house?

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Negative. Only broke the outside pane of a double pane window. Ball would have fallen onto the concrete pad around the pool.

Not their problem, I'm sure the course was there before the house was, and it's part of the price you pay for golf course lot values. That's why the only lots to have on a course are those behind the tee box.

wct097 said:

Negative. Only broke the outside pane of a double pane window. Ball would have fallen onto the concrete pad around the pool.

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and bounced to god-knows-where.

BobKid said:

Not their problem, I'm sure the course was there before the house was, and it's part of the price you pay for golf course lot values. That's why the only lots to have on a course are those behind the tee box.

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Not true. Country club here has specific rules that golfers are responsible for damage to surrounding homes...and they are RIGHT up against the fairways

BobKid said:

Not their problem, I'm sure the course was there before the house was, and it's part of the price you pay for golf course lot values. That's why the only lots to have on a course are those behind the tee box.

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Negative. While the course itself is not liable, the golfer absolutely is. The fact that a house exists along a golf course doesn't mean you can damage it with impunity. The course even has a sign on the 3rd hole that explicitly declares that golfers are responsible for any damage to property. Do you honestly think that defense would hold up in court? Hell no, you're liable.

On a side note, I can only assume that BobKid is one of those a-hole golfers in question.

abqtj said:

and bounced to god-knows-where.

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Basic physics would suggest that the energy the ball had would have been absorbed by the glass breaking and that it wouldn't go far.

abqtj said:

Not true. Country club here has specific rules that golfers are responsible for damage to surrounding homes...and they are RIGHT up against the fairways

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Exactly. There is a sign on the 3rd hole where they have townhouses about 40 yards to the side of the tee box. I'm on the 11th hole and people have to drive a ball about 175-200 yards from the tee box at a 45 degree angle to hit mt house which is probably 50-60 yards out of bounds.

public course or country club?

Brock said:

public course or country club?

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They describe themselves as semi-private.

People that live on golf courses and get pissed when their shit gets hit by golf balls are ****ing idiots, and assholes to boot. I can only assume your next house will be at the far end of a gun range with no backstop so you can call people assholes for shooting at you.

wct097 said:

They describe themselves as semi-private.

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No such thing. If you open your doors to the public, even for just golf, then your not exclusive. what did you think would happen moving next to trashy golf course.

wct097 said:

Negative. While the course itself is not liable, the golfer absolutely is. The fact that a house exists along a golf course doesn't mean you can damage it with impunity. The course even has a sign on the 3rd hole that explicitly declares that golfers are responsible for any damage to property. Do you honestly think that defense would hold up in court? Hell no, you're liable.

On a side note, I can only assume that BobKid is one of those a-hole golfers in question.

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You might want to investigate that a bit further. In most states it has long been settled that the golfer bears no responsibility for a simple errant shot. Where that changes is when they cross into negligence, like trying to cut a corner or driving balls intentionally into structures. And the signs on the course a have just about zero legal standing, it all comes back to the basics of negligence versus reasonable hazard from use in most cases.

And YES, there have been many lawsuits over the years that generally find along these lines. If the golfer is a standup guy, he'll check to make sure nobody is hurt and that the property isn't open to the elements. But any agreement to pay for damages is up to him in most places.

And personally, I think someone who wants to live on a golf course, but who expects zero impact from that decision is an idiot. Even the pros hit errant shots now and then, but rank amateurs aren't supposed to? Yeah, right!

BrandonM7 said:

People that live on golf courses and get pissed when their shit gets hit by golf balls are ****ing idiots, and assholes to boot. I can only assume your next house will be at the far end of a gun range with no backstop so you can call people assholes for shooting at you.

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I don't get pissed when my house gets hit. I get pissed when my house gets damaged and the person that damaged it doesn't take responsibility for it. Dents in the siding and gutters? No big deal. Par for the course, so to speak. Breaking a window without owning up to it is a different story.

my inlaws live on a golf course and a local weather man did the same thing.... and then dipped out.


it's not that getting hit by golf balls should be unexpected.... but when golfers hit and run, knowing they are playing on a public course (next to houses) is just the prick part of the situation.

If you play on a course that has houses like this... leave your contact info

BobKid said:

You might want to investigate that a bit further. In most states it has long been settled that the golfer bears no responsibility for a simple errant shot. Where that changes is when they cross into negligence, like trying to cut a corner or driving balls intentionally into structures. And the signs on the course a have just about zero legal standing, it all comes back to the basics of negligence versus reasonable hazard from use in most cases.

And YES, there have been many lawsuits over the years that generally find along these lines. If the golfer is a standup guy, he'll check to make sure nobody is hurt and that the property isn't open to the elements. But any agreement to pay for damages is up to him in most places.

And personally, I think someone who wants to live on a golf course, but who expects zero impact from that decision is an idiot. Even the pros hit errant shots now and then, but rank amateurs aren't supposed to? Yeah, right!

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You agree to the course rules when you play at the course. Even if you can weasel out of the liability from a legal standpoint, you're an a-hole if you damage someone's property and don't accept responsibility, don't notify the property owner, and trespass to remove the evidence of the damage. Accident or not.

Only an a-hole golfer could call a property owner an a-hole for complaining about a $3-500 expense for the damage the golfer caused.

According to the course, golfers are liable and most of the time the golfer's own home owner's insurance will cover the damage to property. So yeah, you're a world class a-hole if you damage someone's property, have insurance that would make that person whole at no cost to yourself, police the ball by entering a fenced pool area, and then don't take responsibility for the damage.

Furthermore, you suck at golf to hit my house period. We're not talking an errant shot. We're talking a line drive way out of bounds.

Fight fire with fire.