Barrington Man Teed Off

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Oct 14, 2004 3:34PM

A suburban Barrington man is pretty teed off. Since Makray Memorial Golf Club debuted its new course layout in June, Donald Holz's yard bordering the 12th fairway has been "pelted with hundreds of wayward balls."

Holz has to resort to wearing a snowmobile helmet in his back yard and claims that balls and golfers have done a great deal of damage to his home and yard.

Holz didn't always have such problems with his home overlooking a golf course. When he built his home in 1970, it overlooked what was then the 3rd hold of the former Thunderbird Country Club. With the old course layout, the fairway veered away from his house so balls rarely entered his yard.

With the new layout, Holz's home sits about 130 yards down the fairway on the right side. While good golfers drive well past his yard, many a duffer shank the ball his direction. Chicagoist is pretty sure our tee shot would end up in his yard, so we'll refrain from playing Makray... He claims to have collected over 500 balls since the course re-opened.

In the great American tradition, Holz is suing to end play on the 12th hole of the privately owned 18-hole public course and to stop golfers and golf balls from entering his property. He's also asking for at least $500,000 in damages. Sounds a bit steep for a few divots in his yard and some broken shingles, especially when he himself puts the physical damage at $2700. Meanwhile, his lawsuit proposes no other remedies to the problems and he refused they city's offer to discuss adding trees or a net to block balls becuase he likes of views of the expansive turf. Hmmm... sounds like Holz wants the best of both worlds.