STAMFORD – Golfers say the bright yellow balls appear out of nowhere, zipping past them like bullets.
Those who’ve been hit have photos of welts on their arms and legs that they say were quite painful.
Those who’ve had close calls have stories that begin, “Two inches closer and …”
Golfers have videos of the yellow balls scattered around the 11th tee box and other places they have no business being – their color means they belong within the nets that surround the driving range.
But they’re flying beyond their bounds, golfer Bob Kolenberg told the members of the Stamford Golf Authority, which manages the Sterling Farms public golf course, during their Aug. 19 meeting.
Kolenberg had sent an email six days earlier to Bekim Ukperaj, executive director of the Stamford Golf Authority, describing “a serious safety hazard” on the 8th, 9th and 10th holes of the popular golf course.
Balls from the driving range are landing there, Kolenberg wrote.
When he and his companions were playing the 8th hole, they saw 50 to 100 “yellow range balls between the fairway, the right side of the fairway, and the green,” Kolenberg wrote.
While teeing off on the 9th hole, “several balls landed near us,” he wrote. “Then my playing partner was grazed on his left calf by a range ball. He was very shaken up and commented that, if it hit one inch to the right, that ball could have broken his leg. He also pointed out that if that ball had been a little higher, it could have taken out his eye or broken his teeth. That ball came flying in like a missile without any warning.”
Websites devoted to the sport of golf report that balls hit from a driving range typically travel 100 mph to 150 mph.
‘A matter of time’
Kolenberg wrote that he’s had close calls on all three holes multiple times.
“I am in the danger zone no more than 30 minutes during a one-week period of time. So, statistically, based on what I have witnessed, the number of near-misses is staggering,” he wrote. “It is just a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed.”
Ukperaj wrote back the following day, Aug. 14, saying the Stamford Golf Authority has implemented a number of safety measures, including raising the height on the nets that surround the driving range. They also set safety rules for the driving range and added staff members who remove people for not following the rules, Ukperaj wrote.
“Right now, we are also reviewing a proposal to add $20,000+ in equipment that will help us in monitoring for safety,” Ukperaj wrote. “A range redo is on our short list of projects, but requires a lot of planning and funding, so … it will take some time.”
Kolenberg said in his email to Ukperaj that a solution may be t0 change the type of golf balls used at the driving range. Balls have different distance ratings, Kolenberg wrote.
“If a normal ball travels 200 yards, an 80 percent ball will travel 160 yards,” he wrote. “Simply changing the driving range balls could eliminate the hazard to players on the course.”
Ukperaj told Kolenberg to attend the Stamford Golf Authority’s Aug. 19 meeting and raise his idea with board members, which Kolenberg did.
But, Kolenberg said, board members didn’t react.
Manager: Only a handful hurt
One board member, Alex Lionetti, said changes have been made to correct the problem and more are planned, referring questions to Ukperaj, since he runs the daily operation.
Ukperaj told CT Examiner Sunday that the driving range at Sterling Farms, rated the premiere public golf course in Fairfield County, is extremely busy. So far this year, 8 million balls have been hit at the driving range, Ukperaj said.
The range has 44 bays in two decks. It is lighted, heated and covered, open day and night, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and staffed with certified PGA instructors, according to its website.
“Player safety is always at the forefront. We have rules in place at the range, including no drivers on the upper deck,” Ukperaj said.
A driver is the longest club in a golfer’s bag and has the largest club head. It is designed for maximum distance on tee shots. Technology has improved drivers and other clubs, and balls, to increase the distances golfers can achieve.
But, Ukperaj said, he doesn’t think there are more incidents of driving range balls escaping the nets “because of the steps we’ve taken to monitor it.”
He gets a complaint about a yellow range ball striking a golfer maybe once a month, Ukperaj said.
“I know of a handful of reported injuries; all the golfers who were injured completed their round. The worst injuries were bruises or welts,” he said.
A suit from a decade ago
Ukperaj said he thinks complaints about driving range balls striking golfers are being raised now because of a personal dispute.
Kolenberg said there is no personal dispute.
There is precedent, however.
In 2015 a golfer named Christopher Scola sued the Stamford Golf Authority after a 2013 incident in which Scola charged that a ball came flying out of the driving range and struck him in the head while he was standing near the 9th tee.
Scola said the ball strike caused concussion, traumatic brain injury, double vision, dizziness, neck pain and more. He charged that the golf authority had failed to erect the proper fencing, failed to warn golfers of the danger, and failed to regulate the driving range to prevent hazards.
The golf course manager at the time said such civil actions are handled by the authority’s insurance company. No other information was released.
The city does not run the golf course or driving range, Director of Legal Affairs Thomas Cassone said.
“It is leased to, and operated by, the Stamford Golf Authority,” Cassone said.
The Stamford Golf Authority is a nine-member board set up by the city to run the Newfield Avenue golf course, driving range, six tennis courts, two restaurants, and the Curtain Call Theater, which produces live plays.
Sterling Farms is a self-sustaining operation. This year the authority pays the city $365,000 in rent, according to a Board of Representatives resolution.
Time for headwear?
Kolenberg, a former member of the Stamford Board of Finance, said the driving range brings in considerable revenue, and he thinks that’s a factor in not switching to balls that don’t go as far.
“They feel it will hurt business on the driving range. It takes some of the excitement out of it. People who give lessons there want to show people how far the ball can travel,” Kolenberg said. “This is a policy issue for the board to handle.”
He thinks golfers are reluctant to report incidents.
“Most of the people I associate with at Sterling Farms are well aware of this hazardous situation, but they are hesitant to say anything because they don’t want to be labeled a trouble maker and risk being ostracized,” Kolenberg said. “It’s a club, and club thinking, but I feel the time has come to openly address this issue.”
A golfer who said he’s a regular at Sterling Farms described the situation as “reckless” because of the number of balls hit at the range.
“Every single day there are range balls on the 8th hole, and especially the 9th hole. It’s irrefutable that there is a danger,” the golfer said.
A longtime Sterling Farms golfer said he’s never been hit by a driving range ball, but he’s seen enough to worry about it.
“There’s only so much land. You can make the balls go farther but you can’t make the golf course bigger, so people are getting hit,” the golfer said. “You try to forget about it because you have to concentrate on your game. I do my best to block it out, but in the back of my mind I’m thinking, ‘Maybe I should have a helmet on.’”