Golf Ball Hit My Windshield: Who Pays?

If a golf ball breaks your windshield as you drive past a course, your own comprehensive coverage almost always pays, minus your deductible. The golfer usually does not owe you, because a bad shot alone is not negligence. New York's top court said so in 1991, about a sliced tee shot that shattered a passing driver's windshield. The course pays in a narrower case: when balls land on the same home or business again and again, and the course has not fixed it.

That is the reverse of what most local news stories say. They quote a course or a city saying "the golfer is responsible." Here is what the courts actually held, and which case you are in.

What "liable" means here, in plain words

• Liable. Legally required to pay for the damage. Hitting the ball does not make you liable by itself. Something done wrong has to be shown.
• Negligence. Failing to take reasonable care, where that failure causes the harm. It is the usual test for a golfer.
• Nuisance. Use of land that keeps interfering with a neighbor's use and enjoyment of theirs.
• Continuing trespass. Things entering someone else's land over and over without permission. A steady stream of golf balls can be one.
• Comprehensive coverage. The part of your own auto policy that pays for damage that is not a crash: hail, theft, animals, and falling or flying objects. A golf ball is a flying object, the same coverage part as a rock off a truck, as comprehensive or collision for glass sets out.

Why "the golfer is liable" is mostly wrong

The case that settles this is Rinaldo v. McGovern, decided by the New York Court of Appeals in November 1991. Roberta Rinaldo was driving on a public road beside a golf course. Two men teed off at the eleventh hole, and both sliced to the right. One ball went through or over a screen of trees and struck her car. It shattered the windshield and she was injured.

She sued the golfer for negligence and for not shouting a warning. She lost on both.

• No duty to warn. Even a shout of "fore" would likely not be heard in a moving car, "much less" acted on. A warning would have been "all but futile."
• No negligence from a mishit. A ball flying off in another direction is "a risk inherent in the game." The court added that "the mere fact that a golf ball did not travel in the intended direction does not establish a viable negligence claim."

The court left one door open. A driver can win by showing the golfer "failed to exercise due care," for example that the golfer "aimed so inaccurately as to unreasonably increase the risk of harm." Rinaldo offered a golf pro saying slicing is common, and a partner saying the golfer had that problem. The court said that proved only the obvious.

Rinaldo is a New York case, but it is not alone. In 2005 an Ohio appeals court cited it with decisions from Kansas, Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island and California for the same rule.

So why does the other answer circulate? Mostly because courses and cities say it. A Las Vegas area club told KTNV in 2016 that "the golfer is responsible for wherever their ball goes, not the homeowners association or the course." San Diego told NBC 7 in 2019 that golfers answer for their own shots, after 39 damage claims near its Balboa Park course in about two and a half years. A course saying the golfer pays is a course saying it does not. That is not the same as the golfer owing you.

A worked example: a sliced drive onto the road

Take a driver on a two lane road that runs past a tee box. Suppose a ball comes over the trees and cracks the windshield. The car has a camera behind the glass. Say the quote is $700 for the glass and $250 for a dynamic calibration, $950 in all, against a $500 comprehensive deductible.

1. The golfer. Say the golfer walks over and admits it was their ball. Under Rinaldo that is not enough. A slice is the risk the court called inherent in the game. The golfer may pay to be decent, but that is a choice, not a debt.
2. The course. One ball on a public road is not a pattern on anyone's land. The course cases below were brought by neighbors with hundreds of balls over years.
3. The driver's policy. A flying object is a comprehensive loss. The carrier pays $950 minus $500, so $450, and the driver pays $500.

Change one fact. If the ball left only a chip that qualifies for repair, the job runs $60 to $150, and many policies waive the deductible for it, as does insurance cover repair explains. If the quote were $400 with no camera, a claim would pay nothing and still go on record, so you would pay cash, the trade worked through in cash or claim. The math at each deductible level is in how a glass deductible works.

When the course pays: the same yard, again and again

A course becomes liable when normal play keeps sending balls onto the same neighbor's land. Three cases show what that takes.

Two things stand out. First, the main remedy is an order to stop the balls, not a check for each windshield. Only Fenton paid for glass. Second, Massachusetts does not care that you moved in next to a course. In Amaral the court said there is no such thing as "coming to a trespass." If a course needs more land for stray shots, it has to buy the land or the right to use it.

When the course does not pay: the Ohio rental house

Being next to a course is not enough on its own. An Ohio case shows where the line sits. In Ellery v. The Ridge Club (April 2005), Daruice Ellery had rented a home next to a Hamilton County course for about twenty years. On September 1, 2003, golf balls damaged two cars parked there. She did not know who hit them.

A magistrate held the golfers liable and charged it to the club. The trial court awarded $990.66. The appeals court reversed and entered judgment for the club:

• No proof the golfers were careless. Damage alone is not proof of negligence.
• A golfer's fault does not pass to the course. The club owes the neighbor its own, separate duty of reasonable care.
• Too little evidence. Besides the two cars, the record showed about four broken windows in twenty years, and nothing on what the club could have done.

The court listed five things that decide a course's liability to a neighbor: whether the neighbor knew of the course on moving in, how many balls come over, how close the property and people are, what steps were taken, and whether those steps were reasonable for the risk. Ohio counts the first one against you. Massachusetts said it does not matter for trespass. That split is why a neighbor's chances depend on the state.

Who pays, case by case

Each row restates a ruling above. Find the one that matches where your car was.

The parking lot row is a gap. Every course case here was brought by a neighbor, not a visitor, so file on your own policy. The road has a gap too. Rinaldo noted an older line that a "traveler on the public highway" is owed more protection than a neighbor, in claims against a course for nuisance or poor design. It did not rule on such a claim. A road where balls land week after week may support one, but proving it takes a pattern, not one ball.

What to do in the first hour

1. Get safe first. A shattered windshield can block your view. Pull off, then check whether you can drive with a cracked windshield.
2. Note the hole and the time, and call the pro shop. They know which group was where. In the Cincinnati case FOX19 covered, the course said the report came too late to find the golfer.
3. Photograph everything. The damage close and wide, the ball, and the view from the road to the tee.
4. If you live next to the course, keep a log. Dates, ball counts, damage and bills. Ohio failed on thin evidence. Massachusetts won on buckets of balls.
5. Cover the break and book the job. Clear tape keeps water out of a chip, and how soon to repair a chip explains why waiting costs money.

When you file, say a golf ball hit the car and give any golfer's name. That keeps it coded as comprehensive and lets your carrier pursue someone if there is a case. How that works, and how a deductible can come back, is in getting your glass deductible back. The call itself is in how to file a glass claim.

Where this answer stops applying

This page covers golf ball damage to cars and glass under rulings from New York, California, Massachusetts and Ohio. Your state may differ. The Ohio court itself noted a Texas appeals court that ruled for a course sued over damaged cars and homes, and a Virginia trial court that held a driving range liable in trespass. Injuries to people raise different and larger claims. A city or county course is a claim against a government, with short written notice deadlines set by state law. If you are hurt, if the course is public, or if you live with a long record of damage, talk to a lawyer in your state. Nothing here is legal advice for your case. And if you carry liability only, nothing on your policy pays for your own glass.

What to do next

For one ball through the windshield, the answer is your own coverage, and in a zero deductible glass state it may cost you nothing. Check whether a claim beats cash in the claim calculator. If renewal worries you, will a glass claim raise my rates shows why one comprehensive loss is low risk. The same logic covers a stone off a truck, in who pays when a rock hits your windshield, and the rest of glass claims start at the insurance section.

Frequently asked questions

Is the golfer responsible if a golf ball hits my car?

Usually not in court. New York's highest court held in 1991 that a golfer whose sliced tee shot shattered a passing driver's windshield was not negligent, because a ball going astray is a risk built into the game. You would need proof the golfer was careless beyond a bad swing. Courses often say the golfer is responsible, but that mainly means the course will not pay.

Does car insurance cover a windshield broken by a golf ball?

Yes, if you carry comprehensive coverage. A golf ball is a flying object, which is a comprehensive loss, the same as a rock thrown from a truck. You pay your deductible on a replacement, and many policies waive it for a chip repair. Liability-only coverage pays nothing toward your own glass.

Can I sue a golf course for balls hitting my house and cars?

Possibly, if balls land on your property again and again. Massachusetts courts have called hundreds of balls a year a continuing trespass and ordered courses to stop it, and a California court ordered two holes redesigned as a nuisance. An Ohio court ruled for the course when the record showed two cars and about four windows in twenty years. Keep a log of every ball and every bill.

What should I do right after a golf ball hits my windshield?

Get somewhere safe, then note the hole and the exact time and call the pro shop, which knows which group was playing. Photograph the damage, the ball and the view toward the tee. Cover a chip with clear tape, then file on your comprehensive coverage and give your insurer any golfer's name you were given.

Does living next to a golf course mean I accept the risk of golf balls?

It depends on the state. In Ohio, a court said knowing the course was there when you moved in counts against a claim. In Massachusetts, a court held there is no such thing as coming to a trespass, and ordered a course to stop balls landing on homes whose owners knew of the course when they bought.

Sources

• Rinaldo v. McGovern, 78 N.Y.2d 729 (N.Y. Court of Appeals, November 21, 1991), full opinion via Caselaw Access Project
• Ellery v. The Ridge Club, 2005-Ohio-1873 (Ohio First District Court of Appeals, April 22, 2005)
• Fenton v. Quaboag Country Club, Inc., 353 Mass. 534 (Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, January 11, 1968)
• Amaral v. Cuppels, 64 Mass. App. Ct. 85 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, July 22, 2005)
• Sierra Screw Products v. Azusa Greens, Inc., 88 Cal.App.3d 358 (California Court of Appeal, January 16, 1979)
• Insurance Journal, Fore! Golf Course Owners: Watch Out for Errant Shots (August 8, 2005)
• KTNV, Stray golf ball breaks man's windshield (November 15, 2016)
• NBC 7 San Diego, Woman stuck with bill after errant golf ball hits windshield (September 26, 2019)
• FOX19, What happens if a golf ball hits your windshield? (July 25, 2024)