The NAPLES (FL) DAILY NEWS reports today William Abbott sometimes wears a hard hat when he’s puttering around in the backyard of his Florida home. Abbott’s house, which since 1995 has been next to a golf course, is hit by as many as 200 golf balls per day. That adds up to over 30,000 golf balls over the years.
(Dude needs to sack up)
Hundreds of dimpled balls — Titleist, Maxfli, Top Flight and even yellow range balls — that come from neighboring Stonebridge Country Club every year.
Most land with a soft thud in the well-kept lawn behind William and Dorothy Abbott’s North Naples home. But some crash through their living room windows, smash garden ornaments, crack the concrete roof tiles, and rip holes through their lanai screens.
Dorothy Abbott was hit once with an errant golf ball. William Abbott, who used to wear a hard hat outside, has had close calls.
Dorothy Abbott said, “What’s coming next? What damage are they going to do? We are afraid for our lives, being hit by golf balls, and being an invalid.”
The Abbotts home was not part of a golf course residential development. The layout was constructed next to their house seven years after they built their personal abode.
Even more bizarre is they’ve never received a dime for the damage wrought by the golf course.
For more than 15 years, the Abbotts have battled with Stonebridge, which they said has gone through at least three owners, trying to get reimbursed for the repairs they’ve had to make to their home, and ultimately to get the first hole redesigned to end the problem once and for all.
For more than 15 years, the Abbotts say they’ve gotten nowhere.
They’ve talked to the club managers and sent dozens of letters through the years. They’ve talked to lawyers, and they’ve talked to Collier County sheriff’s deputies, too.
Still the golf balls keep coming.
“I did meet with the general manager at the country club,” said Cpl. Ron Turi of the Sheriff’s Office’s North Naples community policing unit. “Unfortunately, it’s a civil situation.”
Several attempts to reach Stonebridge General Manager Doug Brown on the phone and via e-mail for comment were unsuccessful.
But according to a Sheriff’s Office incident report from last June, Brown told Turi that he didn’t have any long-term solutions. He said he’d been working with an architect to change the landscaping, but didn’t know if that would eliminate the problem.
The couple has spent “thousands” on repairs and that doesn’t even count the roof, which needs to be replaced. And good luck getting anyone to buy the house.
William Abbott said, “I want them to pay for the damage to my property, that’s all. I’m not trying to be a meanie.”
That’s probably dude’s problem.
3:09 pm on January 24th, 2010
This problem is nothing a few weekend nights of motorcycle tracks on greens wouldn’t solve. too bad there aren’t any good neighbors that would help them out.
3:44 pm on January 24th, 2010
how about you put up a net or some trees in your yard? the golf course isn’t responsible for a thing
4:20 pm on January 24th, 2010
Motorcycle tracks ? so so….creosote or a herd of cattle
5:18 pm on January 24th, 2010
Why is the golf course not responsible. The house was there seven years before the golf course. If the course was designed without regard to nearby property… then yes… that is a problem .
5:51 pm on January 24th, 2010
Here’s a novel idea. Why don’t you MOVE?
6:28 pm on January 24th, 2010
Nets and/or trees probably the most viable solution. Article implies they can’t easily sell the house…makes sense. Real estate market is bad enough anyway. Nets would pay for themselves over time.
6:29 pm on January 24th, 2010
Are you going to buy their house Josh? They couldn’t sell that house if they tried. Sounds to me like they have a good basis for a lawsuit.
6:38 pm on January 24th, 2010
how are they suppose to move? and what morons would buy a house that has thousands dollars worth of damage done to it.
7:58 pm on January 24th, 2010
I agree that it sounds like they should be able to sue based on nuisance or trespassing.
7:59 pm on January 24th, 2010
Dude looks like about a thousand bounced off his noggin.
7:59 pm on January 24th, 2010
Camera is over here, oldtimer!
8:51 pm on January 24th, 2010
One idea is to hire local golf kids to work on to work on pitching shots during peak hours. If those shots happen to go into the golf course and hit people—a little negotiating tactic.
8:59 pm on January 24th, 2010
I was almos hit with a golfball as I typed “to work on” so I feel for those people. I’m on the golf course but…
9:31 pm on January 24th, 2010
35,000 golf balls….probably could sell them for @ $2 a piece..Tidy profit, and would at least fix the f’n roof..
9:40 pm on January 24th, 2010
sounds to me like they should sue the county/city for approving of this course location
11:31 pm on January 24th, 2010
Even though I’m an avid golfer, I side with the home owners. I’d take every single one of those balls (sans the Pro V’s) and fire for the patrons and/or the clubhouse. Maybe rig an air compressor with some pvc pipe and launch the little suckers at the parking lot.
12:06 am on January 25th, 2010
It’s obvious from the photo that these are good, decent folk, who have inadvertently fallen into misfortune … let us therefore offer them our prayers and best wishes … “oh Lord, if you must rain a barrage of golf balls upon the infidels, then let it be upon the “skulls & property” of the likes of Tiger Woods, Jim Nantz, Lady Gaga, Bernie Madoff and Dick Cheney” …
7:50 am on January 25th, 2010
The problem is the golf course has been sold, it’s on it’s third owner. They will claim they aren’t responsible for the poor design and for any damage prior to their ownership (BS if you ask me). Then of course like any company, they will tie it up in litigation and drag it out for as long as they can hope this couple will pass away before a judgement is reached. That’s the way of american big business, not to be a good steward of the community but maximize profits.
8:54 am on January 25th, 2010
Dont buy a house on a golf course or toxic waste sight duh what did you think would happen?
9:30 am on January 25th, 2010
Let me also say that anyone who suggests filing a lawsuit has never been involved in a lawsuit.
10:23 am on January 25th, 2010
Are you kidding and midget are morons. For are you kidding, they did not buy a house on a golf course. They built the house before the golf course was built. Can’t you read the article? Midget, they are under no obligation to move. The golf course is the problem, not the neighbors. If they cannot get anywhere negotiating, then they need to consider filing a lawsuit.
12:40 pm on January 25th, 2010
30,000??? Even Wilt Chamberlain thinks that estimate is over-inflated.
4:53 pm on January 25th, 2010
Problem is they should have been paying attention when the adjacent property was re-zoned/permitted for a golf course. They could have had much more imput at that time. Now, I can’t believe they can’t get the course to even put up a net and poles. However, they may be located say, about 175-200 yards off the tee box on the right side of the fairway and that would have to be a very, very high net. This sucks and is another good reason to never, never buy a house directly on a golf course.
9:56 am on January 26th, 2010
Remember when Gov. Lester Maddox said, after his State’s massive prison riots ?? “The situation in our prisons is deplorable. What we need is a better class of Prisoner”.
Well, what that Golf Course needs is a better Class of Golfer….They can easily make it in their Home Course rules, a four-stroke penalty, plus distance, to hit OB on that Tee Box. Should cut house hits by at least 75%…..or is that course just over-run with hackers ??
10:45 am on January 26th, 2010
How much does a redesign cost for a golf course. I can’t see why the club wouldn’t do so, they are just delaying the inevitable. The house was there first, zoning or not, they would be liable for the damage eventually.
Are the golfers that bad? Or is the hole designed so poorly? I know a lawsuit isn’t a fun experience, but after 15 years, I think its the only option left.
5:20 pm on January 26th, 2010
“Carlos Spicy Weiner” has the right idea … only I’d take it one step further … they should hire a helicopter equipped with one of those fire-fighting buckets underneath … only instead of water, fill the bucket with fresh, human excrement … then just drop the whole load right on the clubhouse patio, when the place is full, during happy hour … do that a couple of times and I guarantee the course owners will change their tune !
10:50 am on January 28th, 2010
How did Lady Gaga get into this? I am sure if he fired up the Hoveround and wheeled next door with his lawyer’s card in hand, he could work out some sort of deal to get some tall trees and netting planted at the property line. But then he would not be featured on the net and all us hack golfer would have nothing to write about. We should be thanking him because if it wasn’t for their house being pummeled with balls, we would still be writing about Tigers sex life!
2:19 pm on January 29th, 2010
Take all the broken windows, tiles etc. and put them out on the back of you lot on the country clubs line with a sign saying thank you for being such good neighbors and not giving us a cent for our damage.
12:36 pm on August 2nd, 2010
if the golf course was there first or you knew it was goign to be there…. suck it up.