Many of our clients in Naples and Marco Island are retired or semi-retired people who are passionate about life and come to Southwest Florida to enjoy the beautiful weather and many available outdoor activities such as golf, tennis, walking on the beach, bicycling, boating, fishing, and more. Many people join country clubs, purchase golf memberships, or just pay to play at the long list of golf courses in Naples. In fact, Collier County has more golf courses than any other county in the country! So many people enjoy playing golf in Naples that the courses are always packed, especially during the seasonal months. Unfortunately, we have been surprised by the amount of people who are injured on these golf courses and come to Trial Pro for help.
Every golf course has rules and regulations for players, which are usually available on the course’s website or in the players’ clubhouse. While most people probably never read these rules, we have noticed that many of the written rules are incomplete and do not address player safety on the course. Rather, most, if not all, of the rules we have reviewed govern score-keeping, player conduct and sportsmanship, and course protection. We rarely see rules related to the safe operation of golf carts on the course. Unlike State of Florida requirements that drivers study and pass tests to demonstrate their knowledge and ability to drive safely on Florida roads, there are no requirements for golfers to operate golf carts. As such, many golfers operate the carts without regard for other plays.
We recently represented a woman who was seriously injured at a local country club when another golfer ran over her with a cart while trying to drive to her ball. Our client’s enjoyable weekend women’s league golf tournament turned into a disaster. She required multiple surgeries to repair her fractured and broken bones. We represented another golfer in Naples who was driving his cart on the cart path when he was violently struck on the side by a golf course maintenance cart that came from between some bushes. We have also represented a golfer in Naples who lost his eyesight (and an eye) after a worker negligently sprayed pesticide and fertilizer on the course to close to our client. The wind carried the spray into his eyes causing him to lose eyesight in one eye and, after six failed surgeries, his eye needed to be removed.
Golf is fun, but please be careful and aware of your surroundings. Not everyone is as aware as you!
Get an expert Naples Premises Liability Lawyer on your side after an accident on a golf course. Call 239-300-0000 right now for your free consultation and remember if you can't come to us, we will come to you.