Many of us come over here to relax, enjoy life and part of that could be playing that frustrating game called golf. Something came rushing to the fore of my mind recently when I read a court case regarding a very serious accident on a golf course that cost the course and the player involved £397,000!!
I've always been insured for golf just for the peace of mind, but having read the case I am now so pleased I have the cover.
On the 4th November this year Lord Brailsford gave judgement on a golfing accident that occurred at the Niddry Castle Golf Club in Scotland. Golfer, Anthony Phee was awarded £397,000 having lost an eye after being struck by a wayward drive, hit by James Gordon, who was not insured.
The decision brings into sharp focus a number of issues,
1] Every golfer's responsibility is to exercise due care towards other golfers.
2] The importance for golfers to be covered by appropriate insurance.
3] The importance of clubs adopting a robust Health & Safety Management System.
4] The potential liability of club or society committee members and officials.
In this case Mr. Gordon was deemed 70% liable, as having seen Mr Phee, before hitting his ''drive'' and although he had shouted ''fore'', he was deemed not to have ''exercised due care towards other golfers''.
The golf club was deemed 30% liable for not maintaining a robust health &safety management system, citing the lack of warning signs.
Fortunately incidents such as this are rare, but accidents do happen. We live in a ''compensation culture'' where we are all bombarded by offers from ''no - win, no - fee'' companies which make it significantly easier for claimants to seek compensation.
Locally all members of the Spanish Golf Federation are covered by insurance, as are members of Med Golf, a local golf tour operator and member association. The problems arise when local or visiting golf societies play in Spain and have no insurance to cover this activity, should an accident happen, as not all Spanish golf clubs are Federated either believe it or not.
I am unaware of the level of cover offered by the Federation, however Med Golf offer £2M liability cover and £10k personal accident/death cover automatically to all members.
If any of you are keen golfers, you cannot afford not to be insured as illustrated in the recent court case, so if you're not Federated find some alternative cover, but be covered.
You can find out more about the 2 (of many) sources of golf insurance by clicking the links below.
Med Golf
Spanish Golf Federation
... and finally, for anyone who may get a touch of insomnia one evening, here is the link to the full court case in question