By: jackie.sauter

“The most famous 17-hole championship golf course in the country” is not a title you want to use in an advertising campaign. But it’s how The New York Times accurately described the internationally known Winged Foot Golf Club in upstate New York, after one of the holes was determined off-limits.

A state Supreme Court judge issued a temporary restraining order banning play on sixth hole of the club’s East Course after a man whose house abuts the par 3’s putting green sued the because errant golf balls were a threat to his family.

Anthony Pecora moved into the house in 2003. The club cut down several trees between the sixth hole and his house in 2006; since then, he’s suffered $14,000 in damages, including five broken windows this year alone, The New York Times reported. Pecora also had to pay more than $3,300 for emergency surgery after his dog ate a golf ball last year, his lawyer told the Times.

Members, including Donald Trump, are none too happy about the re-designed course. One member stated what seems to me to be the obvious: “If you buy a house on a golf course, you have to assume there may be a couple of errant shots that are going to land in your yard.”

For analysis of the lawsuit, check out the great Norman Chad’s most recent column. Fore!

DANNY JACOBS, Legal Affairs Writer