Residents at a California trailer park are being knocked off at the golf course next door because changes are said to rain golf balls onto their property, break windows, throw people and pose a threat to life and limb. The complaints are contained in a lawsuit filed by Casa Hermosa Mobile Home Park against the city of Anaheim, California, and the owners of Dad Miller Golf Course in Orange County Superior Court last month. The golf course leases the land owned by the city, the lawsuit says. “The stray golf balls are powerful, dangerous and have the potential to cause serious personal injury and property damage,” said resident Patricia Kezios in the lawsuit. Here’s what you need to know.
What has changed at the KTLA golf course
For years, residents lived next to the golf course, which was separated from the RV park by a flood channel, a fence and several trees, without being “substantially affected by flying golf balls,” the lawsuit says. Golfers cannot see the RV park from the 15th hole. Things changed in late 2020 or early 2021, the lawsuit alleges. At that time, the golf course moved the tee for the 15th hole closer to the trailers and removed trees along the boundary between the course and Casa Hermosa, the lawsuit says. “The changes resulted in a dramatic increase in golf balls being hit by Dad Miller Golf Course and landing at Casa Hermosa Mobile Home Park, primarily in the Casa Hermosa Mobile Home Park courses 21-28 area, causing physical damage to the homes and property of Casa Hermosa Mobile Home Park residents and threaten the safety and well-being of Casa Hermosa Mobile Home Park residents,” the lawsuit states.
Why it was moved Dad Miller Golf Course/Facebook
The 15th hole’s tee box was relocated to accommodate work Orange County had to do along the flood control channel, the city says. The city told the RV park that it would put up nets to protect them, but that the nets would take months to install due to supply shortages and that no nets were put up, the lawsuit says. The city also said it would change the tee shot of the 15th hole to reduce the number of misguided golf balls, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit alleges that this has not yet happened.
The damage is real KTLA
Resident George Kezios told KTLA he replaced a window after a golf ball broke it and said balls punched holes in his RV. Kezios said a ball also hit him: “It hit me … right on my shoulder.” Several local residents filed affidavits as part of the lawsuit, alleging damage from stray golf balls. “I am currently finding 6-8 golf balls per month on my property,” resident Van Glagola said in a affidavit. “On September 8, 2022, a golf ball hit my storage shed while I was in the kitchen with a friend.”ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb
“I also saw a stray golf ball hit Room 49’s car as he was driving back from his apartment,” resident Jeanne Ployer claimed in a affidavit.
“I watched the golf balls hit houses, yards and streets,” resident Thomas Raub said in a affidavit. “This is mostly happening along areas 21-28, but I’m also finding stray golf balls along the road that contains areas 68-75 and 60-75. I usually find 2 or more golf balls a month in the gutters of the streets by these houses; I don’t search individual lots for golf balls.”
What do residents KTLA want
The lawsuit asks the golf course to stop using the 15th hole until the stray golf ball hazard is eliminated. The suit also asks the golf course, among other things, to install nets, fences, trees or other barriers to prevent golf balls from landing in the RV park, or to redesign the 15th hole to direct balls away from it.
“We’re asking them to shut down, and they can do that by closing the 15th hole and putting up nets,” RV park attorney Don Diebold told KTLA. “It’s the nature of the lawsuit that we’re trying to prevent in the future from catastrophic injury to residents, staff or guests.”
What’s next KTLA
“We’re just hearing about this lawsuit,” Anaheim spokeswoman Erin Ryan told KTLA. “We really think it’s unnecessary. We want to work with the residents and that has been our goal from the beginning.” Course owners did not comment to KTLA. Neither the golf course nor the city have yet responded to the lawsuit in court.
