What is your reasonable liability if your 8 year old child hit a golf ball on the course and it hit a car in the parking lot at the end of the Ninth hole?

Answer 1

It depends on the situation. If the child, or an adult, hit the ball during normal play and was actually trying to play the game, then liability of the child, the child's parent's, or even an adult who made a bad shot should be....NOTHING. Bad shots are a reality of the game and someone who parks or lives near a Golf course is in the zone of danger and assumes the risk that a golfer will make a bad shot and hit the person's car or home. The car/home owner's insurance policy should pick up the tab. On the other hand, if the kid is not playing by the rules (grossly), then the kid's parents may be liable for the damage. Simple horsing around or a very bad swing would not be enough to make them liable though, so just because the bad shot was caused by the kid trying to hit his/her drive in an unorthodox way like Happy Gilmore, that doesn't mean they are responsible for the damage (unless, perhaps, the kid's conduct alone breaks a major course safety rule). Instead, the kid would probably need to be doing something really dumb like aiming for or over the parking lot, or another target that cannot be said to be even close to the direction a rational shot would take. Players would have some leeway in this regard, but the shot should be intended to further the goal of eventually getting the ball in the cup.