December 21 — You know that member of your Sunday foursome who keeps walking ahead before you hit your next shot? Well, feel free to fire away, and don’t bother yelling “Fore!”
Legal shanks. Turns out that golf is risky business and you should know that before stepping foot on the first tee, according to the New York Court of Appeals. The state’s top court has dismissed a personal injury lawsuit against a golfer who failed to sound the “Fore!” alarm after shanking a ball in his playing partner’s direction.
The New York judges may have considered a similar case in New England in which a golfer blinded himself with a bad shot and tried to blame the course for his mishap. In November, the New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling dismissing charges that Candia Woods Golf Links was negligent in the cause of Paul Sanchez II. The golfer injured himself after hitting a ball that caromed off a yardage marker and smacked him in the eye, according to the Boston Globe.
Don’t you hate it when that happens? Sanchez cried foul (no report as to whether he yelled, “Fore!”) and blamed the golf course for his September 2006 mishit, because — are you ready for this? — he said he had not aimed at the removable marker, the Globe said. Really? A duffer clubs a ball and it doesn’t hit its intended target. What are the odds?
Meanwhile, back in New York, Dr. Anoop Kapoor mishit a shot on a Long Island course in October 2002 that clocked Dr. Azad Anand in the head as he searched for his own errant shot. The accident blinded Anand in one eye and he sued his pal.
After a protracted legal battle, the N.Y. court ruled that Anand accepted the risks involved in the rough and tumble game of golf when he agreed to play with his hacker friend. For his part, Kapoor was not negligent when he failed to offer a verbal warning that his golf game sucked.
Inherent risks. “The manner in which Anand was injured — being hit without warning by a ‘shanked’ shot while one searches for one’s own ball — reflects a commonly appreciated risk of golf,” according to the New York judges’ Tuesday ruling.
If you’ve ever been hit by a golf ball, you know it’s no laughing matter. But this case pretty much seemed to be, especially after the judges dismissed Anand’s suit by saying the golfer should have realized that golf was a dangerous pursuit.
The Granite State court ruled similarly, noting that “obstacles and errant golf balls are inherent risks in the game of golf,” the Globe noted.
Seriously, who knew golf was such a hazardous endeavor? Maybe next time you should consider donning shoulder pads and helmets before teeing it up.
(Emily Kay is a regular contributor to New England Golf Monthly. Check her out on the Waggle Room, Boston Golf Examiner, and National Golf Examiner websites. You may also follow Kay on Twitter.)
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