I was injured playing a game of golf on a course. What are my legal rights in taking action for the injury damage?

Unfortunately, you probably don’t have a claim against Bob, unless there was something else going on (see below). It is harder to recover for an accident causing injury at a golf course than one might think. Courts have consistently held that players are not accountable for simply mishitting or misdirecting the ball—not being able to drive the ball in the correct direction does not constitute negligence, such as would give rise to a legal cause of action. Also, a certain amount of risk, such as the risk of being hit by an errant ball, is assumed or implied in the game of golf.

For Bob to be negligent then—and to also overcome your assumption of risk—you probably need something additional or riskier than Bob’s bad shot. One possibility that might give you grounds for a lawsuit is if Bob failed to provide warning, typically by yelling “fore!” Some courts have held that when a ball is obviously going astray, the golfer has a duty to call out some warning so other people can try to duck or take cover. Bob’s failure to warn, when the ball was going off the fairway, could make him liable.

 Less likely, but possibly, if something about Bob’s game or swing is so much riskier than usual—he swings with his eyes shut, for example—that it would constitute a risk beyond the norm for golf and might make him be liable.

As for the golf course: if the course design was itself negligent—that is, no reasonable course designer would lay out a course this way—that might make the golf course owner liable. Merely having two holes parallel to each other would almost certainly not be enough in and of itself, since it’s not all that uncommon. However, if the distance between them was too short, or there should have been a screen of trees between the holes, that might result in negligence and therefore liability.

In summary: getting hit by a ball is a risk in playing golf. To establish liability, there must usually be some additional or greater carelessness or negligence. An attorney can review the facts of your case and determine if it looks as if there might be grounds for liability. Good luck.