Golf outings are a common occurrence for many golf courses. Public, municipal and private courses that host such events are likely aware of the many games that are typically played as part of the outing experience or as added fund-raising opportunities. The most common of these is the Hole-In-One contest, whereby participants have a chance to win money, a car, a trip, or other prizes if he/she makes a hole-in-one on a designated par three hole.
Most of the time, insurance is purchased for this game. For hole-in-one coverage, premiums are calculated based on specific criteria such as degree of difficulty on the hole, distance from hole to tee, and the number of golfing participants. As one would expect, the harder the hole, the less likely a hole-in-one would occur, and so the price for insurance goes down. Conversely, the probability of a hole-in-one goes up as the number of participants increases, and so does the premium for coverage.
It’s a common courtesy for members of the golf course staff to place tee markers at a specific distance from the hole as instructed by the outing coordinator. The assumption is that the coordinator is aware of and is consistent with the insurance policy requirements. When a hole-in-one actually occurs during an outing where an insured contest has been arranged, the event is reported to the insurance agency. An agent/claims adjuster then proceeds to the golf course to verify that the event did in fact occur (must have witnesses) and that all other provisions and stipulations of the policy were met. If everything checks out, the claim is paid, the winner buys drinks and it’s a happy ending all the way around.
What happens, however, if the claims adjuster finds that the yardage was shorter than the designated distance required on the insurance policy? In all likelihood, the claim is rejected, leaving the outing coordinator and the golf course representatives to face the unfortunate participant who thinks they just hit the jack-pot. More often than not, the outing coordinator maintains that the golf course is responsible since they placed the tee markers. Unless there is specific documentation to verify the distance requested, it’s the golf course's word against the outing coordinator’s. This awkward situation leaves a significant risk/vulnerability of an ugly lawsuit and negative publicity.
One simple way to mitigate the risk for hole-in-one insurance games on your golf course is to create a short form listing all par three holes and the range of distance they can play from. On this form, the outing coordinator marks the exact hole where a contest is to be conducted and the distance from the hole the tee markers should be placed. The form should be signed and dated by the coordinator and filed with other event documentation. The last order of business is to make absolutely sure that the tee markers are placed in accordance with this signed form. Then, when/if you are challenged, you will have written evidence of the request that just might potentially save you from a legal battle, bad publicity and worse yet, from buying someone a new car.
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