MERIDEN, Conn. — In Meriden, rogue golf balls leading to property damage have been a cause for concern among neighbors at the end of the 2024 golf season.
Up until the final minutes before the snow flew, the season’s most dedicated golfers got in a final round in Meriden. It’s been causing concern for the people who live along the eighth hole fairway in the Reynolds Drive area near Hunter Golf Course.
A sign has been posted by the tee box that reads, “houses to the right are reachable from the tee.”
“You never know when a ball is going to come flying in,” said Edward McCarthy of Meriden.
In McCarthy’s backyard, there has been a golf ball for every color of the rainbow and a ding for every caddy-shack slice.
He said the problem has gotten worse over the years. It is now so bad that he has accumulated multiple five gallon buckets of backyard balls just over the course of one season. McCarthy said he never knows when the next rogue Calloway will come flying in.
“This is a safety issue. We have children who would like to come out and use the yard and we are in fear of their safety, our pets safety and our own safety,” McCarthy said.
He noted that his family has been unable to safely use their firepit and pointed out the vehicle and siding damage caused by terrible tee-shots.
“I am sympathetic. I just don’t see a solution financially speaking,” said Hunter Golf Course Golf Pro Bob Tiedemann.
He said it is an issue decades in the making.
“The golf course was here first. They built those homes,” Tiedemann said.
Hunter Golf Course is owned by the city of Meriden. The Mayor's Office said they have, “..been in contact with Mr. McCarthy…”, going on to say, “A berm and arborvitae will be installed along the 8th hole prior to the start of the 2025 golf season."
But McCarthy said he has a better solution. He wants the city to install a retractable net on poles, but at $750,000, it’s a little more expensive.
“I don’t have a solution,” Tiedemann said. “I don’t think he really has a legitimate one except a net which to me there’s a lot of causes and ways to spend your money. I just don’t think every other taxpayer in Meriden would appreciate having their money go toward a net.”
McCarthy said he doesn’t appreciate the property damage, the trespassers who hop his fence or the city’s insurance company who told him, “...the fact that [the city owns] the golf course does not make them negligent for incidents that occur from aerial golf balls.”
“This problem was not as bad six or seven years ago. It’s gotten worse,” McCarthy said.
“You have to be realistic that occasionally you may get pelted with a golf ball,” Tiedemann replied.
McCarthy suggested the city may be able to use leftover COVID recovery funds which have to be allocated by the end of the year to help buy those nets, but city officials said there is no money left.
Hunter Golf Course closed for the season on Monday.
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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