Guest column: Golf course cart paths not for walkers

Signs bordering the Oaks North Golf Course warn residents that the golf course play area is dangerous. As a regular golfer, I observe weekly that those signs do not deter residents from walking the cart paths in the morning.

There is a cavalier attitude among the walkers; they act like they have a right to walk on the course because they live on the course. Might I be cavalier and ignore the “no trespassing” signs on their properties and trample their landscape or play my shot off their patio? No thank you, I choose to have fun and be safe, respecting the residents’ property rights. I don’t believe these walkers think about my right to safely enjoy my game nor the close proximity they are in to flying projectiles.

Cart paths are in bounds for golfers. Tee boxes, fairways and greens are adjacent to these pathways. Quite simply, this is where golf balls fly at 100 mph. The paths are not a separate sidewalk for residents, rather they are in bounds for golfers. However, one of the most dangerous things about walking on the Oaks North cart paths is that golfers cannot always see walkers coming. On three occasions this summer, my partner and I have unknowingly teed off only to see a walker emerge from a curve or valley.

A Golf Digest article once noted that thousands of people are seriously injured each year by tee shots, and those injuries include concussions, hematomas, loss of sight and broken bones.

While it would be a tragedy for a human to be injured, there are also many unsuspecting dogs at risk, whose masters walk them on the course. Imagine losing a pet because one chose to walk it in an unsafe area. I believe the liability belongs to the dog owner.

I pay for the privilege of playing golf on a beautiful course, and I should be able to do so without looking out for residents who are walking, dangerously, on golf course property. Walkers may wonder why I don’t greet them when they offer a friendly good morning. I am not feeling neighborly when my next tee shot might send that individual to the hospital.