Guelph's Dave Ostyn is petitioning for the City of Guelph to introduce a bylaw that requires golf courses in the city to install a safety net around their property after his car suffered significant damage from what he says was a golf ball.
For five years, Ostyn has lived approximately 12 metres from the Guelph Country Club, on the other side of Woodlawn Road. Last week, for the first time, he came home to a smashed rear window on his Nissan Altima that cost $540 to replace. A golf ball sat on the driveway nearby.
Frustrated with the damage, Ostyn says he contacted the golf course and they told him they’re not responsible for the damages and it is the golfer’s responsibility to cover the damage.
“But that's not a law, that's just a rule the golf course made up. That's my thinking,” says Ostyn.
“How am I supposed to know who did it?”
Board member Paul Carere says the course put up a post to call on anyone who has information about who hit the golf ball and no one came forward.
“I would love for the guy to be compensated but it’s not our responsibility,” says Carere who has been on the course’s board for the past seven years.
He says the course’s policy on any damaged property from stray golf balls is that it is ultimately up to the golfer to pay for the damages.
“I know the rules and I have been investigating them personally with regards to who should be responsible and that should be the golfer,” says Carere.
He also says he just doesn't see how a golf ball would go in the direction towards Ostyn’s home.
“This gentleman lives across the street of the sixth hole. The sixth hole you tee off in the exact opposite direction. Our fifth hole, it seems to me, as a golfer is almost impossible,” says Carere.
“I can't even imagine how a golf ball can get off our golf course, across the street and break his window. I just don't see how that could possibly happen.”
Carere says he welcomes anybody to come to the golf course and take a took where the sixth tee block is.
While some tee blocks have nets around them to protect the property of homeowners in the area, Carere says putting a net in the direction of Ostyns home wouldn't make sense.
“I mean if we had to put a net up there, we would have to put a net up all around the place,” says Carere.
Ostyn says while the golf course is fenced off, he says the golf balls could easily fly over it because of the tee box in close proximity to the fence that could have golfers aggressively taking shots for fun.
He says while it is speculation to a certain degree, he is convinced a golf ball from the Guelph Country Club hit his car because of the stray golf balls found on his driveway.
“On Saturday we went out, we come back and the window was smashed and another golf ball on the property,” says Ostyn.
“We left at 6 p.m. and the window was fine, we came back at 10 p.m., and the window was broken. When I first pulled in I thought, did a tree fall in or something?”
Ostyn says apart from the damage to his car, its a huge safety concern for anyone on Woodlawn Road.
“Let's not even talk about my car for a minute. Let’s talk about Woodlawn being busy, let's talk about kids always walking down the street here,” says Ostyn.
“If not anything, they need to put up some nets here now and block it up.”
Ostyn says while he wants to push for legal action, it is expensive and difficult to prove.
“Nobody saw the ball come across. Would it hold up in court? Probably not,” says Ostyn.
Ostyn hopes the petition will get enough people on board to fence off the property while it stands alongside the main road. He says luckily no one was in the way at the time.
“This could kill someone,” says Ostyn.
