Q: We recently moved next to a golf course, and an errant ball broke one of our windows. We called the clubhouse, but they did not want to help. Are we on the hook to pay for a new window? — Holly
A: Living on a golf course means living with golf balls.
While the golfer who broke your window should own up and take responsibility, she is not legally responsible for the damage if she was otherwise playing normally.
Golfers need to take ordinary care when playing, but sometimes even the best golfers will hit a wild shot. If she was acting negligently when it happened, perhaps taking a running start like in the movies, then she would have been on the hook.
Buying a house on a golf course comes with the risk that an occasional ball will enter your property with the occasional golfer following it.
If you live in a community association with a golf course, your governing documents will deal with this issue in much the same way. Typically these documents will also relieve the reasonable golfer from liability for accidental damage and allow a golfer to retrieve their lost ball.
I occasionally hear from someone who lives on a recently renovated course and is getting hit by balls much more often. Golf course operators need to take reasonable precautions to keep both their golfers and their neighbors safe and can be held liable if they fail to do so.
Sometimes people who already own a home have a golf course, driving range, or something similar, built next to them. If this happens, their new neighbor will need to take precautions to ensure that the existing homeowners are not negatively affected, such as putting up netting.
