One thing is if a course KNOWS they have a hazard like this, they should address it and I’d guess more likely it’s not always a backbreaking expense. Beyond the damage, it could cause a serious, even fatal, accident. Have witnessed golf ball car damage more than once, two times when a ball ended up in the course parking lot. One time it was a brand-new car parked next to mine. The ball smashed the windshield and along the roofline requiring body work. The driver was yelling about every expletive; he was a car sales guy having borrowed this new ride over the weekend. He wasn’t looking forward to explaining the mishap to his boss the next day.
Some 40-years ago was playing a par-3 at a muni-course, the hole ran parallel along the left with a freeway off-ramp. Only barrier was a cyclone fence maybe 10-feet high. I hooked a 7-iron over the fence watching in horror as the ball smacked the pavement on the ramp, bounced, bounced, and rolled across the blvd toward the on-ramp on the other side. Being a normally heavy traffic area, was lucky there was minimal traffic at the time, didn’t hit any vehicles. Couldn’t believe the luck all considered. The guy I was playing with asked me where my ball ended up as he stared at the green. I said look left, no - more left, see? It is on the freeway on-ramp heading north.
Anyway, not the first time I’ve wondered about simple hazard reduction measures given the risks. Guy I worked with lost his eye being hit by a ball while playing...and I was hit once, lucky it only smacked my chest landing me on my ***. While still on my *** on the fairway the guy walks over the crest asking if I saw his golf ball. Yeah, ahh it's right here..
