A pro golfer's million-dollar lawsuit over a slip off a bridge at The Golf Club of Yankee Trace missed the green when a judge dismissed all of the defendants.
Richard Johnson, of Martinez, Ga., fractured his wrist when he fell on the bridge near the 15th green at the 2001 Buy.com Dayton Open, according to reports at the time.
Johnson claimed he slipped and fell on the bridge as a result of moss and slime that had accumulated on the bridge and the lack of anti-skidding materials. It also had rained the previous day.
Judge John W. Kessler of Montgomery County Common Pleas Court said he relied on a 1995 ruling by an Ohio Appeals Court in Cleveland, which held that public golf courses are not "public grounds" under Ohio law. He found Yankee Trace and the city of Centerville entitled to immunity.
The Cleveland-based appeals court found that the Ohio General Assembly in 1989 categorized construction and operation of a public golf course as a governmental function under the Ohio Political Subdivision Tort Immunity Act, eliminating its previous designation as a proprietary function of a political subdivision, Kessler said. Political subdivisions lose immunity when they fail to "keep . . . public grounds within a political subdivision open, in repair, and free from nuisance," Kessler said.
Johnson's attorney claimed the appeals court ruled in the Cleveland case because the Cleveland-owned golf course was outside the city limits, making it not "public grounds" of the city.
Kessler also dismissed the Dayton Open as a defendant after Johnson's attorney, Vincent P. Antaki, of Cincinnati, failed to meet a deadline to file a response to the Dayton Open's motion to dismiss. The Dayton Open, formed to organize the event, rented Yankee Trace for $65,000 that year, Kessler said.
Antaki said he had not read Kessler's rulings and declined comment.
Johnson won a tournament in both the 1999 and 2000 seasons of the Buy.com tour. In 2000, his earnings totaled $230,108. He played in 28 tournaments in 1999 and 30 tournaments in 2000.
In 2001, his best showing in the 11 tournaments prior to the Dayton Open was 10th and he earned $21,741 that year. In 2002, he earned $17,662 on the Nationwide tour; in 2003 he made the cut in two of 17 events, earning $4,745; this year he made the cut in one of 11 events, earning $6,771.
Antaki declined to describe Johnson's health status since the injury.
Source: Dayton Daily News (Ohio)