Landmark ruling for brain damaged Golfer

A golfer who sued his golf club after suffering brain damage when being hit on the head by a stray ball has lost his case in a landmark ruling. The judge said his club could not have foreseen or prevented the incident.

69-year old Iain Gray had been a member of Workington Golf Club in Cumbria for more than 50 years, and was playing the second hole when a ball struck from the first tee, 220 yards away, hit him.

The ball, hit by Graeme Hodkin had sailed over a copse of 20 feet-high trees before striking Mr. Gray.

He suffered from a puncture to his skull, bruising and bleeding to his brain in the accident, which left him with brain damage and at a greater risk of epilepsy.

He told the court that he had not heard Mr. Hodkin shout “fore”.

The court considered the risk of such an injury occurring and whether the club had done all it could to assess and minimise the risk.

After hearing that there had been one accident in 44 years at the club, where about 20,000 games were played each year, the judge, Catherine Howells, dismissed the claim, saying that the club could not have foreseen or prevented such an incident.

The decision comes less than five years after a golfer at Niddry Castle Golf Club was awarded nearly £400,000 when he lost an eye after being hit by a stray ball. The money had to be paid by both the club and the golfer who hit the ball.

So is it open season on golfers? Do we need to get ourselves insured, rather than hope that if we get injured we can sue our golf club? It looks like we might have to take to get covered up, so to speak.

For another recent golf legal spat click here or on the image below to read about how a hole in one golfer was taken for a complete ride.