MARIETTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – If you live near a golf course, consider yourself forewarned. Country clubs aren’t usually responsible for repairing the damages to your home from errant golf balls, which some Georgia homeowners said has cost them tens of thousands of dollars over the years.
“I came out with my baby in the garage and glass was all over my car,” said Jewel Montgomery, who lives across the street from Marietta Country Club golf course.
Montgomery is not talking about a burglar breaking into her car. She’s referring to an errant golf ball breaking the glass windows on her garage door.
“I was out in my driveway one afternoon, sitting in my truck, and I heard this BOOM sound,” said neighbor Ronnie Pope, recalling when a golf ball dented the top of his truck.
“I’m scared to go out in my yard,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery and Pope have lived across the street from the golf course for almost 25 years. Both said they knew the golf course was there when they moved in, but they “didn’t have a clue of what was going to be happening after,” Pope said.
“I think something has changed; we didn’t get that many balls at first,” Montgomery said.
Homeowners said golf balls flying over from the course have dented gutters, garage doors and a work truck, and have broken numerous windows resulting in thousands of dollars in damage.
Montgomery said she’s replaced her home’s windows at a total cost of about $70,000. Those are out-of-pocket expenses for the homeowners who don’t want their insurance premiums to go up for filing claims.
But these homeowners said their biggest hazards are the close calls with golf balls nearly missing them while simply sitting on their decks or mowing the lawn.
“All of a sudden, a ball hit the bill of my hat,” Pope recalled, adding his hat protected his face.
Montgomery is also worried about her 9-year-old daughter who loves to play in the backyard.
“If they hit my daughter. I’m not going to tolerate it!” Montgomery said.
Atlanta News First Investigates found these neighbors live right across the street from a par-4 hole with 453 yards from the furthest tee box to the hole.
Depending on the golfer’s skill level, a 20-to-30 degree slice can send balls right to Montgomery and Pope’s homes.
The neighbors said the country club’s insurance company paid for the very first broken windows more than a decade ago, but nothing since.
“The biggie was the picture frame window and my office windows again,” Montgomery said. “I called and called; I sent a certified letter, and then I got a voice message on Dec. 20, 2024, saying they’re not responsible.”
Marietta Country Club did not respond to several inquiries about their protocols.
Ronnie Miles, senior director of advocacy with the National Golf Course Owner’s Association (NGCOA), said this is a growing problem across the country.
“We get a lot more golfers today than we had five years ago, before Covid, and many of these golfers … are hitting the ball with a little less accuracy,” Miles said.
The laws vary by state, but Georgia, like most states, recognize the assumption of risk doctrine and which owner – the golf course or the home – was there first. The assumption of risk doctrine hold anyone who moves into a home knowing a golf course is nearby, assumes responsibility of damage and injuries.
Miles advises homeowners look at land records, called easements, in the real estate deeds division of their county courthouse.
“There’s an easement that goes around the perimeter so many feet out from the property line of the golf course… so balls can penetrate and travel into that area,” he said.
Marietta Country Club’s easement from its original construction in 1989 protects their golf ball liability within 30 feet of the property.
Atlanta News First Investigates measured and found Pope’s and Montgomery’s easements are more than 60 feet from the club’s fence line.
Montgomery said she has called lawyers, but said they’ll only take a case if there are injuries.
The NGCOA advises gives its members to consider any possible changes they can make to help minimize problems, such as moving a tee box.
“If the hole is designed a dogleg, you might look at modifying the tee so the golfers are hitting away from the angle,” Miles suggested.
While the neighbors are asking for the course to put up a net, Miles said homeowners who live on the actual golf course would likely oppose such a move over aesthetic purposes.
Instead, the NGCOA suggests adding more trees around the perimeter of a course to slow the frequency of balls that may escape.
“They need to pay now,” Montgomery said. “They need to move the tee box. They need to put up a net and not have the balls coming over here in this neighborhood because we don’t live on the golf course.”
If you’re a golfer, keep in mind you can also hold some responsibility, especially if there was intent to cause damage. You should always read any liability forms before signing them.
The NGCOA also encourages courses to display signs for golfers, “so golfers understand they have responsibility when they cause damage to private property,” Miles said.
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He added golfers should offer to pay for repairs to outside property damage themselves.
In an August 2022 article in Golf Business, Miles cited a Georgia court “complaint charging nuisance and trespassing.
“The plaintiff claimed that over time the number of rounds increased, resulting in an increased number of errant balls hitting their home, thus claiming the increase exceeded the limits set forth in the easement,” Miles wrote. “The court found in favor of the golf course as the easement was properly filed, and no limits were placed on the number of times an errant golf ball would enter a property.
“While protecting the golf course owner, an easement shall not relieve individual golfers using the golf course of any liability they may have for property damage areas,” he wrote.
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