A Gloucester man who shot for the green landed in the rough earlier this week.
Ray LaChance had sued after flipping over in his golf cart as he attempted to drive down a slope toward the fifth tee at the Far Corner Golf Course in Boxford nearly four years ago.
But on Tuesday, a Salem District Court jury not only rejected his claim but found that LaChance was actually liable to the golf course for $42.50 in damages to the cart in the May 17, 2015, incident.
LaChance and his Gloucester-based attorneys, Joseph Orlando Jr. and Matthew Montano, had argued that the grade of the path to the tee was too steep, so steep it should have had a warning sign to golfers recommending that they go slowly and keep one foot over the brake. They also argued in court filings that the paths violate the town’s bylaws limiting the grade of a road to 7 percent.
The paths in the course have a 15 percent grade, the lawyers, who even hired an expert, argued.
A lawyer for the club’s owners, however, argued that the town bylaw doesn’t apply to the course and that there are already numerous signs warning golfers to drive slowly — as well as evidence that LaChance was going too fast.
And, the club’s attorney, Corey Mastin, argued that LaChance and his lawyers had overstated his injuries in the crash.
“It was like going through the woods,” LaChance testified on Monday during the trial. He and the other golfers couldn’t find the tee box.
Then, another golfer spotted it. “We realized it was to our left, down a hill,” said LaChance.
He and another golfer in a different cart began heading toward the tee. “Before we knew it, the cart was going so fast we couldn’t stop it.” LaChance said the other golfer hit a tree.
His cart fishtailed, spun and then tipped over, dragging him for 20 to 30 feet, he testified under questioning from his lawyer, Montano. His arm was caught under the top of the cart and he suffered abrasions to his arm and knees, as well as shoulder and neck pain.
LaChance testified that he was driven back to the clubhouse, where he was given some paper towels and shown where the men’s room was. He said he asked someone to call an ambulance.
When the ambulance arrived, however, he declined a trip to the hospital. “I asked them to clean it up,” he told the jury.
He said he went on his own to Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester later on. “I was in a lot of pain,” he testified.
LaChance said he received treatment three times a week for his injuries. That also caused him to miss work as an umpire and as a driver for a cab company.
But was that treatment actually for the injuries he received in the cart crash, asked Mastin, the lawyer representing the golf club and its insurance company, Acadia Insurance, which had filed a counterclaim. She pointed out that LaChance had a pre-existing back injury.
LaChance said he wasn’t seeking damages for the injuries to his back.
Mastin also elicited testimony from LaChance acknowledging that he has a handicap of 8 and golfs frequently at Rockport Golf Club, another hilly course. She suggested that he was familiar with how to operate a cart on hills.
In their verdict, the jurors concluded that the golf course was not negligent but that LaChance was.
Court filings indicate the medical bills and lost wages being sought came to a total of just over $5,000, but also say that LaChance’s attorneys were seeking triple damages.
Efforts to reach the course’s owner, Bob Flynn, and LaChance’s lawyers were unsuccessful on Thursday. It is not known whether an appeal will be filed.
Staff writer Phil Stacey contributed to this report.
Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, [email protected] or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis.
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