Family awarded $5 million for golf ball damage to home
By Danae Bucci
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KINGSTON, Massachusetts (WCVB) — A Kingston, Massachusetts, family was awarded nearly $5 million after golf balls caused thousands in damages to their home.
The Tenczar family has lived near fairway 15 on the golf course located on the Indian Pond Country Club since 2017.
Their attorney says it didn’t take long for golf balls to wreak havoc on the house.
“There’s 26 windows that need to be replaced,” Tenczar family attorney Robert Galvin said. “The entire siding of the home has to be replaced. There are portions of the deck that were damaged that need to be fixed.”
In the four years of living there, Galvin says nearly 700 golf balls have landed on their property.
“This was so extremely upsetting to them and they were so completely powerless to really fix the problem,” Galvin said.
A Plymouth Superior Court judge awarded the family $100,000 in property damage and $3.5 million in emotional distress. Fees and interest bring the total awarded to nearly $5 million.
“The problem had to be fixed from the golf course side,” Galvin said.
NewsCenter 5 contacted the attorney representing the owner of the golf course, and he said part of the risk of living on a golf course is the potential for damage by golf balls. He also said the course has insurance to cover damages, like what’s seen at the Tenczar’s house.
The Tenczars’ attorney says they declined that action saying they were looking for ways to prevent such a large number of golf balls from entering their property.
The owner of the golf course does plan to appeal the decision.
In the meantime, Indian Pond Country Club has temporarily changed the hole the Tenczar family lives near from a par-4 to a par-3 while working to find a positioning that will not lead to as many golf balls hitting their home.
If the golf course owner loses the appeal, they will have to pay the Tenczar family damages.
When asked why the family does not move out of the home to avoid the potential for damages, their attorney says, “it would be impossible to sell the house with that type of situation. The problem had to be solved.”
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