Is it just me or are golf balls dangerous for horses? I am so annoyed that my neighbor keeps hitting his balls into my paddocks! I mean, they are literally inches from where my horses graze and eat dinner! I picked up all the ones I could find, but seriously!
WHERE IS YOUR HEAD…
WWYD?
pick up a wedge ans chip them back, direction of his truck… see how he likes it.
Hitting golf balls in the direction of a living thing is considered extremely rude (the lone exception is the guy in the caged tractor on the driving range)
Pick the balls up, carry them over to his house and be ever so sweet when you inform him that he must have mistaken your paddocks (AKA your property) for a driving range…
I have a neighbor like that, I never see him do it, but he is chipping apparently into the direction of my front yard…makes me wonder, because golf balls are not cheap (and btw, you can sell the ones you find on your property to the proshop, not for much but hey, it might pay for a late)
I harvest mine. We go out or send the kids out, collect them up in a bucket and resell them. Even at .25 cents each, they sell fine to those folks practicing their strokes. Grampa gets a BUCKET full for Fathers Day, Uncles get a milk bottle full, they are VERY happy to see them.
Neighbor has a workshop and builds custom clubs, re-does older clubs with new grips or modifications. He has his customers try out the clubs from his back yard. I find it TRULY amazing how the balls all seem to HOOK RIGHT, going INTO the prevailing wind and end up in my fields. They are in the woods, barnyard, field ALMOST to the next road!! I have seen him out picking them up from the neighbor behind himself, but with my electric on all the time, he usually doesn’t sneak over to collect them from my fields.
We just do NOT DISCUSS it with each other. He knows I collect them up because they disappear. He has NEVER asked for them in about 10 years. They have just missed me sometimes out in the field, when they rain from the sky. He is usually a not-bad neighbor, just likes to mow a lot, cut down the large trees in his yard. Does the suburban thing, fertilizing, seeding, ROLLING the lawn, but MY yard grass LOOKS nicer!! It drives him quietly crazy because I don’t mow the grass very short, protecting the roots, never fertiize or roll the dirt. We don’t burn the leaves, they get mowed on the grass or collected and shredded onto the garden areas. He LOVES to burn stuff, ditches, yard waste, PILES of leaves that are huge, which wastes all those nutrients and leaves big black, ash spots on the lawn that he reseeds. Things are better now that his kids graduated, are not on the Golf Team at school!! Much less practice time hitting, so less balls in the field.
So if I was you, I would collect the golf balls, KEEP them, give them to friends or sell them cheap to pay myself for the time collecting. I also find collecting them to be REALLY a PITA, but don’t like them in the fields either. Gallon plastic milk bottles work VERY well, just cut out the screw on part for a slightly bigger hole to drop them in. Bottles hold quite a few, easy to store until you want to get rid of them. I know daughter made good money for a couple years from a guy, he just went thru a LOT of golf balls for practice. Then he moved away, so selling has been slower.
The Golf Ball Hazard
By Raymond L. Schumann of Law Offices of Raymond L. Schumann
Many Floridians enjoy the spaciousness and beauty of golf course views from their homes. Unfortunately, in these Homeowners’ opinion, this serenity is sometimes marred by golfers who seek, errant balls or by the balls themselves resounding off the exterior walls. Homeowners frequently wonder if there is anything that can be done about these annoyances.
A person who enters another person’s property without permission is trespassing. Trespass is one of the oldest types of civil law claims but a cause of action only exists if the trespasser is warned and asked to stop and if there is no valid reason for the trespasser’s presence.
A trespass could be airborne or subterranean because a property owner’s rights also extend into the air above the property and into the ground below. A person who flies a model airplane over a property or someone who shoots a gun across property lines is both trespassing.
Entry onto land without the owner’s express consent or invitation would be permissible under certain circumstances, If someone was in a boat in a canal behind a home and the boat began to sink, the boater would be permitted to land on the closest property because of necessity. In fact, the homeowner could be liable for injuries if he turned the sinking boat away. Of course, the boater would not be permitted to pitch a tent and have a barbecue once he has landed.
Emergencies constitute a similar privilege. Police may chase suspected criminals across private land, firemen may string hoses and neighbors may rescue a child from a neighbor’s pool if they believe he is in jeopardy of drowning.
Golf course communities almost always have a section in their deed restrictions, easements and covenants that permit golfers to retrieve their errant balls. This section might read: “Every Lot and the Common Area is burdened with an easement permitting golf balls hit from the Club facilities to unintentionally come upon the Lot and for golfers at reasonable times and in a reasonable manner to come upon the exterior portions of the Lot to retrieve errant golf balls.” If the Lot is fenced or walled, the documents usually confirm that the golfer must seek the Owner’s or Occupant’s permission before entry.
In other words, people may enter property to retrieve items such as golf balls, or pets if they do so in a reasonable manner. Tearing down a fence would not be considered reasonable. Every owner of property located on or adjacent to a golf course should become familiar with the applicable sections of the deed restrictions, easements and covenants governing their property.
A second concern is the damage that may be done by these errant balls. The Golf Club, the builder and the course designer are usually protected in the documents that are signed at closing. The homeowner usually assumes the risk of damage and may wish to insure against this event. Golfers may be responsible for damage but collecting is usually difficult and impractical.
Most golfing communities address golfers’ liability with a clause similar to the above, "All owners, by acceptance and delivery of a deed to a Lot, assume all risks associated with errant golf balls, and all Owners agree not to make any claim or institute any action against the Community Developer, the Club, the golf course designer, the builder or any other party other than the golfer who caused the property damage or personal injury, arising or resulting from any errant balls or golf clubs. In other words, the golfer is responsible for damage but collecting, especially for minor damage, may be an impractical task for the homeowner.
Marauding golfers and destructive balls are rare in most communities. Seek the advice of an attorney if a problem is severe. If not, enjoy the view.
My cousin had one of those Golf Club “housing tract” homes. GREAT view of the grounds, but it got to be a real problem with almost CONSTANT need for window replacements. I do think the Golf Club had to pay at that time, but still, needing to have workers out DOING repairs all the time was such a pain. People walking thru your shrubbery to get their lost ball in the middle of an outside gathering or dinner, you never could count on any solitude in your own yard! And the Golfing goes on ALL THE TIME, sunrise to sunset, 7 days a week. Balls hitting on the roof, people walking or driving by outside, talking, making noise prevented any sleeping in on your day off. This club had a HUGE amount of players using the facilities all the time, determined to enjoy the huge dues for being members! Anything done outside had a big chance of you getting HIT with the ball, even with the netting strung along the property edges. Children were not safe outside playing either.
He ended up selling the home, because they could not enjoy it at all.
Not only do I have golf balls in my pastures from a neighbor’s grandchildren, but trash that blows from their unlatched trashcans. My neighbors can’t seem to buckle down their trash! One neighbor in particular just sets things out by her full trash can, like soap boxes, diaper boxes, beer and wine boxes with glass bottles inside. I make sure they see me picking up their trash, but there has never been an apology I also make sure they see me pick up the golf balls and they are not offered in return. The prevailing winds comes from the north in the winter and from the west during storms. I can’t avoid them! At least it is better than the teenagers who used to throw beer bottles and road signs at the horses. I could never leave them out at night!
My own husband is responsible for the golf balls in our pasture. He’s usually pretty good about picking them up though.
Copy and distribute ?
TRESPASS; GOLF COURSES:
Recurrent entry of golf balls onto Homeowners’ property constitutes a continuing trespass. -
Amaral v. Cuppels, 831 N.E.2d 915 (Mass. App. Ct. 2005).
Homeowners filed suit against owners and operators of the Middlebrook Country Club (the “Golf Course”). Shortly after moving into new homes adjacent to the ninth hole of the Golf Course, the Homeowners discovered that golf balls from the Golf Course were hit onto their property at a frequent and alarming rate. Unable to resolve the issue with the Golf Course Operators, the Homeowners sought injunctive relief and damages in the Superior Court.
The Superior Court denied relief and dismissed the complaint, finding that the facts did not support a nuisance claim. The Homeowners appealed and the Appeals Court granted them injunctive relief, finding that the recurrent entry of golf balls onto the Homeowners’ property constitutes a continuing trespass. Analogizing the facts to those in Hennessy v. Boston, 164 N.E. 470 (involving persistent landing of baseballs from neighboring baseball field onto plaintiff’s property) and Fenton v. Quaboag Country Club, Inc., 233 N.E.2d 216 (involving an annual average of 250 errant golf balls from neighboring country club landing on plaintiff’s property), the Appeals Court found that the regular and frequent non-permissive propulsion of physical objects onto an adjacent property constitutes a continuing trespass.
The Appeals Court rejected the Golf Course Operators’ defense that the Homeowners knew of the risk of errant golf balls prior to purchasing their homes, finding that while the notion barring nuisance claims based on a “coming to a nuisance” defense is well accepted, there is no similar notion of “coming to a trespass.”
In order to prevent future instances of trespass, the Appeals Court held that the Golf Course Operators must either acquire the land onto which the golf balls are currently landing or acquire the right to use the land for that purpose.
Comment 1: Can one establish a prescriptive right to conduct such a trespass? In Massachusetts, the prescriptive period is twenty years, and the defendants didn’t quite make that period for operation of their golf course. Further, the court noted that in the precedent golf course trespass case, where the course had operated for more than twenty years, there had been no discussion of prescriptive rights. The court here says it reaches no conclusion on the point, but it strikes the editor that a prescriptive use could be created. Certainly the activity meets all the requirements, unless one can argue that golf balls landing on vacant land are not an “open and notorious” use
Comment 2: Some courts will characterize a continuing trespass as a nuisance, but of course it is a special kind of nuisance - one constituting a trespassory, rather than a non trespassory, invasion of use and enjoyment. Lawyers frequently make the mistake of lumping trespasses and nuisances together. Don’t do it. A nuisance involves a balancing of two presumptively legitimate uses that just conflict with one another. A trespass involves a non-legitimate invasion of the acknowledged possession of one owner’s rights by another party. It doesn’t matter that the trespass is initiated from the invading party’s space - it is still an invasion of the plaintiff’s space.
Pick a few up and out them in a clear plastic bag along with this page printed out:
http://www.dwquailgolf.com/training/net_dpro_targetnet.html
And this printed out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choke_(horse)
And highlight the “foreign object” part. Then use a marker to add in the approximate vet bill cost for choke treatment.
It would probably be highly unlikely for a horse to swallow a golf ball…however, if you have my type of luck then you would have the type of horses that would swallow a golf ball and cause thousands in vet bills. :sigh:
They can also step on one…it’s about the right size for a good sole bruise.
I don’t mind golfers…but anything that has projectiles flying as part of a sport or hobby has to be contained in their own yard. That includes golf balls, baseballs, pumpkin chunkers, potato guns, fireworks, bullets, arrows and cows flying out of catapults hurled by the French. :winkgrin:
Although last week I saw something on the roof of my barn…got closer and saw it was a bottle rocket type firework! :eek: Had a complete FIT trying to figure out which neighbor shot flammable stuff onto the roof of my BARN!
However…then I remembered I hadn’t heard any fireworks lately and also remembered the bunch of crows that hang out here all the time. Got out the binoculars and had a closer look at the roof of the barn and saw clothespins, pieces of tinfoil, a rusted set of keys (someone had to go bananas looking for those) and quite a few other odds and ends.
Yeah…the crows were stealing stuff and using the barn roof as a stash spot, LOL! A closer look at the firework showed it was old, faded and had dirt all over it. It didn’t land there without some avian help.
I have had this going on for about 10 years. The neighbour in question is a decent guy though, I am fairly sure he wouldn’t hit in the direction of the horses. He must have a pretty wicked hook or slice (can’t remember which is which). I just collected them in a bag and said nothing. One day he was sort of complaining that overland draining was going through my paddock and onto his back property (am I supposed to change my topography or something?) and I said we would see what we could do and oh by the way…here is big bag of golf balls of yours I have collected from my paddock. Nothing further has been said about meltwater draining from my paddock.
I use one of our pastures for a practice range but only with the horses out of there, grass clipped short, and they are picked up before it’s used as a pasture.
Hitaway balls aren’t worth anything. They’re just cheap balls to start with or worn out good ones, or found on courses and resold in various cheap grades-some as little as .15 a piece. They won’t be 4 buck balls.
I’ve found balls that weren’t mine in our pastures too, but unless your ground was really hard, they get pressed right in if a horse steps on one.
I use them to see how far I can hit them out into the lake with my Long Drive driver. If I saw anyone intentionally hitting balls into our pastures, it would come back at them at 185 mph.
[QUOTE=Aggie4Bar;4802101]
My own husband is responsible for the golf balls in our pasture. He’s usually pretty good about picking them up though.[/QUOTE]
Ditto…except mine doesn’t pick them all up. 
Luckily I have a German Shepherd, he lives to fetch.
I suggest you return them by driving them onto his roof. At 2:00 am. Besides making a racket, I’d bet they would damage his shingles. Vet bill versus new roof…Hmmmm…
StG
LOL, I hope he doesn’t inhale the balls…
[QUOTE=Aggie4Bar;4802101]
My own husband is responsible for the golf balls in our pasture. He’s usually pretty good about picking them up though.[/QUOTE]
Ditto.
I don’t live anywhere near a golf course (well, at least not close enough to be within range of a stray golf ball) but I find golf balls in my pastures all the time! I am not entirely sure who is hitting them, but many of them are rather new looking. We have collected dozens already and a week or so later after we do a collection, they begin to appear again.
I suspect it is my neighbor next door who has a well known reputation for being a real pain in the rear, although I have never had too much interaction with her since we moved here a little over 2 years ago. I am always so busy running my business or working with my horses.
She came over when we first bought the property and told me that the previous owner always allowed her to put her horses in our barn when the weather was bad. He never charged her anything. She has 4 horses, and said very matter-of-factly that they liked “those four stalls there…” which happened to be my large foaling stalls. I was rather taken back, because it was really obvious that she naturally assumed that I would also grant her the same free arrangement. I politely told her that I was sorry, but we were not going to be able to do that since I was a breeder and was not comfortable with the idea of having people coming and going at will through my property at all hours with horses I was unfamiliar with, not to mention I would be using those stalls. She was not happy, and I have not spoken to her since.
When the neighbor on the other side of her lost her horse to a lightning strike, this woman began turning her horses out in the neighbors pasture to give her pasture a rest. They ate the other woman’s pasture down to nothing before she put her horses back on her own property.
We have had the county call us several times, because they had gotten a tip that we had an unpermitted septic system, or that we were doing something else they needed to check on. We said they were welcome to come check, and they did…several times. All complaints were determined to be groundless and they finally quit responding to these “tips” from the anonymous woman caller.
I do not wish to pour gas on a fire, so I have not said anything to her. I guess I will keep collecting golf balls.
Same here. We are about 1 mile from the nearest golf course, with no neighbors who play. We finally realized all the balls were being delivered by crows. We just collect them as we find them and don’t worry about it.
star
Very good suggestions!
And I have to stop reading while I’m at work because I cannot contain my laughter!
You all are too funny!
Well, with 330-odd feet of south boundary adjoining the 7th hole of the neighboring golf course… we do get a LOT of stray golf balls in out upper pasture. Our big round pen is up there too, and I’ve been hit TWICE by a drive off the tee, and once while working a rather volatile young three year old TB some yo-yo drove through the net and hit the horse - who literally exploded straight up. In all cases I went vociferously ballistic, too. Last time I was hit it caught me in the back, right in the ribs - I had very distinct bra fastener marks for well over a week! I picked the ball up and winged it back at the perp, along with many choice comments (at the top of my lungs, no less) regarding his lack of a family tree.
I once was up in pasture picking up balls, and heard a father instructing his about nine year old son on how to DRIVE THROUGH THE NET, which kid of course did immediately. I spoke up - he denied it, saying oh, the kid didn’t mean to - he was pretty chagrined when I told him I heard him INSTRUCTING the kid, and that if he ever did it again, he’d never play the course again, according to My Neighbor the Owner. Grrr…
Best one - I was just preparing to go into the “cottage” an unfinished studio building near the round pen - had my arms full of something to put into storage there. I hear a man’s voice say distinctly “hey watch THIS!” and WHAMMY, golf ball zips across my chest not three inches from me, and BREAKS THE WINDOW in the building! I was so shocked and so P-O’ed that I just started screaming… I RAN to the fence, hollering the whole time, and the guy actually came to the fence apologizing profusely. Wow, all the previous idiots had just slunk off… I ran out of breath long enough for him to hand over a business card and a promise to pay for damages… which he actually did. Amazing.
This isn’t really a “golf course community”, we just happen to have ground that abuts this little nine-hole course. IF we ever look for another place, it will NOT be near the golf course. I have many five gallon buckets of balls. It was funny for about the first two months.
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