Okay, so today I’m going to speak to the “Dads” out there, as I’m sure that all of the “Moms”, once they read this, will probably all be shaking their heads and rolling their eyes in agreement when they hear what I have to say. To begin with, how many of you “Dads” out there immediately thought of sports the moment that your child was born? I know I did.

As a person who grew up in the City of New York, I was an avid baseball and football fan, and always thought about the day that I might be a professional baseball player. Of course, that never came through to fruition, so I then figured that I would someday have a son who I could live in the baseball world vicariously through him. Well, when my son Devin was born one of the things I thought about was being able to play ball with “my boy”. So, as soon as he was old enough to understand, I took Devin outside and gently tossed a baseball to him. Of course he didn’t catch it, and it hit him square in the nose and he ran inside crying to Mommy. Of course Mommy comforted him and quickly “reminded” me that I should not be playing baseball with our little darling as he will obviously get hurt.

“Well, maybe baseball is not his sport”, I thought to myself, “…but maybe football is!” So I immediately ran out to Wal-Mart and purchase a child size football. I hurry home, and once again take him outside for an inauguration football toss between Daddy and Son. Of course, even at this young age Devin is a little skeptical of his father’s intentions as the last time I took aim at him it almost cost him his nose. Either way, a child’s undying trust in their parent is always present, so of course he was willing to give it the ole college try…even though he was only going into second grade.

I held the football up so he could clearly see it, directed him to put his hands out so I could gently toss it right into his arms so that he could make the catch. I softly and in an underhand motion gently lofted the ball his way from a distance of about five feet, and watched in eager anticipation as the ball glided towards his outstretched arms. Well guess what?! “He caught it perfectly” you say? Nope…not a chance. He “caught” the ball you might say, but although the football landed right in his hands as I had perfectly calculated using a combination of physics and geometry, when he brought it in to his body he moved his hands so quickly towards his head that he hit himself in the nose with the football, and immediately dropped the ball, and ran full speed inside screaming and crying for Mommy once again. Of course Mommy again comforted her injured little man, and once the crying and screaming stopped and the nose bleed subsided, Mommy then came outside to pay me a visit and gave me a “talking to”. “Ok” I again thought to myself, so a baseball catch didn’t go as planned and a football toss didn’t work out as well as I would have liked, so now I’m positive and extremely optimistic that basketball is the sport of choice! After all, he is the one throwing the ball, so how much trouble can I get into shooting hoops with my son. I hurry back over to Wal-Mart and purchase one of those six foot high plastic basketball hoops, the kind that comes with a little, soft rubber basketball that even a cave baby can shoot a basket with and not get injured. I set it up, and I call Devin outside to “play ball!”

Slowly and skeptically he comes back out, ice cream in hand, and I can only guess that he is giving his father one more chance to “be a Dad and have some father and son sports time”. I show him the basketball hoop, and this time I hand him the ball (as I’m not about to take any chances throwing it to him), and instruct him on how to shoot a hoop. Well, he does it and loves it! He picks up the ball and hands it to me, asking that I now take a shot. Of course I am happy to oblige, and when I make the basket from three feet out of course he moves underneath the net, looks up, and, well, you guessed it, gets hit right smack in the nose with the ball that fell through the net. Want to guess what happened next? I’ll bet you can. Sorry, Mom…it looks like basketball wasn’t his sport, either.

Well, that was all the sports for that summer…or at least that’s what I thought. About a month later, I brought Devin home a plastic golf set and set him up in the living room under the careful and watchful eye of his agent/doctor/mother. After watching him take some hefty swings at the “wiffle golf ball”, I decided to take him outside to “see what he can do”. Sure enough, I teed it up for him and he began to whack the ball like he had been playing forever! Could it be? Could I have finally found the sport that we could play together? Did I actually find a game that he is good at and at the same time keep him out of harm’s way (and me, too, because if he gets hurt again Mom is not going to be too happy with me!)?

Well, thinking that I have now found “our game”, and seeing that this is certainly a game that he seems to have an inherent talent for, I decide to buy him a small set of junior golf clubs. Thinking now that we are going to have such a wonderful time on the links just he and I, we head over to our local course to play nine holes on a par three.

“This is great!” I said out loud, as we arrived on the fifth tee, we are having a fantastic time and Devin has found a sport that not only is he truly enjoying but that he seems to be good at even at this young age. Well, just as I said that an errant shot comes out of nowhere and hits him directly on his ankle, causing him to grab his foot and fall to the ground. Not sure of the extent of his injury, as he was in obvious pain, we end the game and I take him home where Mommy can evaluate the latest sports injury that he has received, and decide if he needs medical attention. As all things in my life tend to relate back to this thing of ours, I remember thinking while sitting in the doctor’s office waiting to have Devin’s ankle checked (he was fine, by the way) that golf can be a dangerous sport as I am sure many unintentional injuries probably occur annually, just as I am quite sure there is a great deal of property damage, too, that is caused by shots similar to the ones that I hit when playing. Although I didn’t research it then, I was reminded of this event this past weekend while at the golf driving range with both my son Devin and daughter Jessica (lesson to learn here is that daughters can be great at sports, too, as Jessica is a member of the same high school golf team that Devin once played on), and I thought it would be interesting to investigate and see the results.

The first question I decided to research is how many golfers in the United States are unintentionally injured each year by other golfers while on the course. The answer I thought was an astounding 120,000 golfers are injured to a point where medical treatment is needed, and a report was filed at the scene.

My next question, was how much is paid out in insurance claims, and what kind of cases are filed? Here are a few golf related insurance claims that I found interesting, courtesy of the Insurance Information Institute:

Case 1

In 1998 a 16 handicapper was ordered to pay damages after a wayward shot hit a fellow golfer. The golfer in question had been trying to play the ball over a ditch towards the green but his ball struck a tree, went off at a right angle and hit another golfer who was standing 90 yards away on the next fairway. Even though the unlucky golfer shouted “FORE” when he miss-hit his shot the golfer who was hit did not hear the shout. The golfer sustained damage to his eye and retina. During the court case the judge upheld the verdict that our unfortunate golfer should pay damages even though he shouted a warning.

Case 2

A 26-year-old college student who was permanently blinded in his left eye by an errant golf ball two years ago was awarded nearly $1.2 million by a San Diego Superior Court jury. The College student was putting on the second green when a poorly hit ball struck by a golfer standing about 45 feet away on the third tee went through a chain-link protective fence and struck him directly in the eye, according to court documents. The ball’s trajectory took it right through the fence, which had 2- inch webbing. A golf ball is about 1 3/4 inches wide. The jury returned the verdict (9-3) against the operators of the course, the managers of the course, and the golfer. Although the course is owned by the city, the operators and manager of the course, under terms of their lease, are responsible for all lawsuits, the prosecuting lawyer said. The golfer had teed off at the first hole and sliced the ball so badly to the right that it landed on another tee. For his second shot, the golfer was aiming in an odd direction trying to get back to the fairway when he miss-hit his shot and didn’t get the desired loft, according to court documents. The ball then went right through the 6-foot-high fence and struck the unlucky golfer. It was estimated the ball was traveling between 70 and 90 mph. “It was so fast, he heard the sound of a golf ball being hit, turned his head a quarterturn, and got the ball right in the eye. He didn’t even have time to flinch,” the prosecuting lawyer said. The safety fence, which is supposed to protect golfers from wayward balls in areas where many golfers congregate, was not properly constructed, according to the lawsuit. After two years of denying liability for the accident, the golf course operators and the golfer admitted on damages. The jury awarded the injured golfer $185,000 for past and future medical expenses and $1 million for pain and suffering. Still a computer science student, the injured party no longer plays golf because his depth perception makes it hard to hit a ball, his lawyer said. Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune

Case 3

A golf shot that injured a maintenance worker could prove costly for an amateur golfer. An insurance corporation has sued the golfer for allegedly not voicing a warning before he teed off and struck an employee with his ball. The employer of the worker seeks a financial award after it paid the staff member more than $100,000 to date in benefits. The attorney who represents the golfer responsible filed a response claiming the maintenance worker was negligent instead. “We deny liability on the part of the golfer” the attorney said. The insurance company’s attorneys initially filed a petition at a federal courthouse. Lawyers for both parties agreed to dismiss the federal case when a similar complaint was filed in County Court. The golfer was among four men playing golf at a club when they noticed the employee about 75 yards away — left of the tee box — connecting a hose to a water spigot. “In spite of the employees close proximity, the golfer ‘teed off ’ second and his ball struck the employee in the head,” the petition said. The employee reportedly suffered a skull fracture, eye injuries and motor skills problems after the incident. The attorney representing the golfer denied that the golfer failed to utter a warning before the stroke. Efforts to reach the golfer for comment were unsuccessful. According to U.S. Golf Association etiquette, players should always alert staff nearby or ahead before making a stroke. The traditional word of warning is “fore.”

The attorney representing the golfer argued that the employee failed to wear protective headgear, and should not have been in front of golfers he knew or should have known were playing. The employee received workers compensation, which employers provide to employees injured on the job to eliminate the need for litigation. However, an employer may sue a third party in an effort to recover some funds paid to an injured employee. A Department of Insurance spokesman said a claim usually must be “fairly sizable” before an insurer will seek action against a third party. The general manager said his club follows a 30-page employee training manual that advises on safety. Golfers are also advised on proper etiquette to avoid accidents, including pace of play and careful cart driving. The employee has since returned to work at the club. The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and USGA officials said they did not keep data on golf course injuries, but this case is not unprecedented. Source: Springfield News-Leader (Mo.)

Case 4

Another case was of a golfer who says she suffered serious injuries after being hit in the head by a golf ball. The golfer was the passenger in a golf cart driven by her sister. After finishing a game of golf, the sister drove to a cart return area near a pro shop and barbecue pit. She testified she heard a “whack” and saw her sister tumble from the cart like a rag doll and hit her head on the pavement. Taking the testimony in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, there was evidence that the owner of the golf course knew that golf balls regularly flew into the area where she was injured. The architect called as a safety expert for the plaintiff, testified that the golf course was unreasonably dangerous. Based on the local building code (referred to as BOCA, for the Building Officials and Code Administrators model code), the expert opinion was that the area of the pro shop, cart return and barbecue pit should have been moved farther from the golf course, or guarded by a fence, because people tended to congregate there. Defense counsel unsuccessfully argued that the expert did not qualify as an expert because he had no experience with golf course design. The jury returned a verdict of $457,995 in favor of the golfer.

So, the next time you try to hit the kid who drives the ball picker at your local dri ving range (which happens to be Devin’s summer job) think about the ramifications if that ball happens to pierce the protective covering of the cart and hits that unsuspecting person causing bodily injury. You can poke an eye out with that thing.

Although there are usually no conventions held during the summer months, the PIA of NY’s Young Insurance Professionals held a summer networking event at Four Food Studio in Melville, NY. So many agents, carrier folks and vendors turned out on a beautiful July evening, making this one of the most successful summer events in YIPN history. In addition to the usual “cast of suspects” that attend YIPN events, it was wonderful to see people like Joseph Davis and Mark Moore from Northeast Coverages; Elainelynn Donahue and Michael Pellicone from Barry Risk Management Inc.; Matt Farbman from Jimcor Agency; Robert Mangi from Robert C. Mangi Agency; Jarrett Plafker from Axa Advisors; Brian Warner from DC White Agency; Cory Anckner from Travelers; and so many others. Also, a very special “Thank you” to Pat Hayes at EVO Merchant Services for sponsoring this event! Well, thanks again for taking a walk up 17 and down 18, and remember this advice…don’t forget to yell, “FORE!” because it’s only funny until somebody gets hurt.