"Jus like it predicts in the book of revelations!"
Posted on 11/06/2011 11:03:15 AM PST by Alex Murphy
Like something out of the Old Testament, an affliction from on high has rained down on Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Fairfax County: golf balls.
One smashed the rear window of Pastor Bob Barnett’s Honda Odyssey on a Sunday. Another crashed through a church office window, and a third plunked the youth director on the head, knocking him down as he worked with a group of children. In all, 2,637 balls pelted the property during a recent year-long period, the church claims. Members know because they collected each one.
The source is not divine, but the adjacent TopGolf, a state-of-the-art entertainment complex that features a 76-bay, two-level driving range.
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The church is so teed off that members have invoked an obscure bit of Virginia law to seek relief. They petitioned a Fairfax court for a special grand jury to decide whether TopGolf could be prosecuted as an ongoing public nuisance.
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TopGolf chief executive Joe Vrankin said the complex has done everything possible to corral balls, including spending about $350,000 on possible solutions and working closely with the church.
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....Vrankin said TopGolf has paid as much as $2,000 for damage caused by balls hit onto church grounds in recent years.
Vrankin said it requires a “Tiger Woods drive” to clear the netting. The problem, he said, is that 10 million balls are hit at TopGolf each year, so some are bound to sail onto church property.
But he said it’s rare for a ball to fly so far. According to Vrankin, “99.9927 percent of balls stay in the property line.”
How does he know?
TopGolf outfits each ball with a microchip that allows the company to track the length of the drive and the number of balls hit.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
....the complex has done everything possible to corral balls, including spending about $350,000 on possible solutions and working closely with the church.....Vrankin said TopGolf has paid as much as $2,000 for damage caused by balls hit onto church grounds in recent years....The problem, he said, is that 10 million balls are hit at TopGolf each year...“99.9927 percent of balls stay in the property line”....
....TopGolf outfits each ball with a microchip that allows the company to track the length of the drive and the number of balls hit.
But seriously, it's a shame that a portion of that $350,000 already spent didn't go toward the netting that would have solved the problem.
Just a golf tip,if your ever in a lighting storm on a golf course,hold a 1 iron over your head,’cause even God can’t hit a 1 iron;)
When I was a kid back in Kansas, I used to go to a roving archery range adjacent to a golf course. I marveled at the number of balls on the archery range and wondered if there were arrows on the golf course.
TopGolf outfits each ball with a microchip that allows the company to track
"Jus like it predicts in the book of revelations!"
I'd like a few of those to play in the fall. Sometimes the balls are just too difficult to find because of the leaves and the angle of the sun.
"Jus like it predicts in the book of revelations!"
When I lived in Japan, there was a simple low-tech solution to this type of thing: Driving ranges were fully enclosed in netting, generally a green weatherproof polyester, occasionally blue. They made the driving ranges easy to spot from a considerable distance. I suppose that much netting would be costly and the supporting aluminum framework even more so, but there would be a point where it would pay off.
Hmmm....10 million per year * 99.9927 = 9 999 270. So at most 730 balls per year leave the property. But the church has collected 2637 balls in a year.
And those are just the ones that landed on church property. How many more have landed in the surrounding neighborhood?
Personally, I think TopGolf has a bunch of regulars who are aiming for the church. And an unaddressed gap in the netting that coincides with their aim.
Was the church built before or after the gold course was there...if built after, the church assumes the risk of that happening...
Their toddlers’ favorite activity is golf-ball hunting, also known as “nature walks”. It’s like Easter eggs, but all the time. Then they take turns popping them through the special hole in the shed, and listen to them rattle around on the floor.
The church was built way before Top Golf.
I suspect after they get through in the courts, that if they have any money and are still in business that netting will appear.
That’s actually something to Dibble over...
LOL
That sounds about par..
My wife has visited a friend who live right off a golf course. As my wife was standing talking to her stray golf balls would fall into their yard or hit their roof. My wife was terrified but her friend seem unfazed. Her husband would collect them and use them for his golf games.
At a dollar a golf ball, perhaps the church should look at this as a source of revenue. Perhaps manna from heaven?
it may be judgement on the Presbyterian Church for accepting gay marriage — it’s raining (golf) balls ;-P
Good point -- $2,637 per year. Of course the golf course should pay for windows broken. But I think it would also be dangerous for kids or people walking around there.
Not this one, but I suppose that all Presbyterians must look alike from Poland.
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