Retail & Leisure (Leisure)

Client:  Major golf club tournament organiser

Issue / Claim: The claimant, who had been a spectator at the event, suffered a lower limb injury when she allegedly fell down a gully on a marked walkway. She alleged that both the course owners and our client were in breach of their duty of care under the Occupier’s Liability Act 1954 for failing to ensure that the walkways were reasonably safe.

Weightmans’ investigation and action: Due to the passage of time, neither our client for the co-defendant were able to show what the condition of the walkways had been like, nor whether the gully had existed, either on the walkway or in the rough land, at the time of the incident. 

However, we were able to show that it was unlikely that the gully had been on the walkway by collating information on the thousands of visitors who had attended the event and relating them to the absence of similar accidents. We further demonstrated the strict accident reporting procedures that were in place. 

Result: Claim successfully defended. A finding against our client in respect of a gully ‘in the rough’ would have had serious consequences for every golf course in the country.