Source: The Dallas Morning News
The view from Ed and Caroline Wilkinson's back yard is beautiful as the morning mist rises off the glassy surface of a shallow pond and golfers slice balls along an emerald green fairway.
But there's a downside to this tranquil scene.
Golf balls occasionally fly through the windows of their Richardson home, beside the Sherrill Park Municipal Golf Course.
"One came through the window while we were sitting here," said Ms. Wilkinson, standing in the kitchen of her home in the Fairways of Sherrill Park neighborhood.
Although a line of trees and a tall net strung along the side of the house deflect some shots, the couple estimate that 15 windows have been shattered over the last nine years.
"I would never live on a golf course again," said Ms. Wilkinson, who thinks Richardson should do more to help property owners who live around the city-owned facility.
Golfers, however, warn that the occasional broken window is par for living along a course, and city officials say Richardson is not liable for such damage.
"The person who hits the golf ball is responsible," said Ronny Glanton, head golf pro at the 300-acre Sherrill Park course built in the 1970s. "We're responsible for trying to find the person who hit the ball."
Assistant City Manager David Morgan has offered to plant more trees on the golf course to screen Ms. Wilkinson's home from poorly executed shots.
"The golf course is a neighbor, and we want to be good neighbors when we can," Mr. Morgan said.
Signs posted on all golf carts remind golfers that they're responsible for damage to homes and that they shouldn't trespass on private property, Mr. Glanton said.
When a homeowner calls about a broken window, he said, he sends someone to talk to golfers. It's often difficult to identify the culprit.
"We've had some people who are honest," Mr. Glanton said. "But that doesn't happen very often."
Don Kennedy, director of golf at Firewheel Golf Park in Garland, said he fields about two calls a week during the season from homeowners with broken windows.
"We send a staff member to the golf course to try to figure out who hit the ball," he said. "When they see a golf pro driving up, they tend to own up to it."
Mr. Kennedy said homeowners should realize before they buy a home on a golf course that broken windows come with the territory.
"There are some liabilities of living on a golf course," he said.
It didn't take the Wilkinsons long to realize that their home, along a 300-yard Sherrill Park fairway with a water hazard, is in the line of fire for wayward drives.
"I'm in the hot zone," said Ms. Wilkinson, standing in her back yard, which was littered with golf balls. While some golfers have owned up to the damage they've caused, many deny responsibility, she said.
Their neighbor, Samir Marwaha, has had the same experience.
"One time we called the police," he said. "They chased the person down, but [the golfer] denied it."
Mr. Marwaha said that his insurer puts a cap on how many broken window claims can be filed and that he's reached the limit until next year. The Wilkinsons said they don't file insurance claims because their deductible is greater than the $220 to $285 to replace each window.
"This is supposed to be a game for educated, middle-class people," Mr. Wilkinson said. "What would they tell their kids if they broke a window?"
Ms. Wilkinson plans to accept Mr. Morgan's offer to screen her home with more trees, but she doesn't think it will do much good.
"My windows are going to get broken again," she said. "I'm tired of it."