Some believe that a golfer cannot be held personally liable if his or her ball strikes another golfer so long as “FORE” is yelled.  But what happens if the golfer and the individual struck by the ball are one in the same? 

New Hampshire resident Paul Sanchez, 67, sued Candia Woods Golf Links after he was left blind in one eye by an errant golf ball.  It just so happens that it was Sanchez's own errant ball that struck him in the eye.

According to his attorney, Barry M. Scotch, Sanchez was golfing with some friends when a ball he hit bounced off a yardage-marker and “whacked him” in the right eye. 

Sanchez is seeking unspecified damages in the lawsuit, claiming that the golf course owners failed to warn him about the markers, which he further claims were improperly placed in the middle of the fairway and were made of material too rigid to be safe for the course.  The suit contends the course didn't warn Sanchez about the risk in the pro shop, on the scorecard or on any tee boxes.

"Before he could even -- pardon the expression -- blink, he was hit," Scotch said. "It just ricocheted right back at him."

Mary Ellen Sanchez, his wife, is also a party to the suit, claiming emotional damage.

The popular 18-hole course bills itself as the "Friendliest Course in New Hampshire."

—Source:  The Union Leader (Manchester, NH)