By: Rob Harris

Here’s how a New York appellate court described what happened:

“On August 14, 2008, the plaintiff Arnold Simon (hereinafter the injured plaintiff) allegedly tripped and fell while playing golf on a golf course owned and operated by the defendants Hamlet Windwatch Development, LLC, and Hamlet Windwatch, LLC (hereinafter together the defendants), located in Hauppauge. The injured plaintiff exited his golf cart on the cart path near the top of a staircase leading down to the green at the second hole. While walking to the rear of the golf cart to retrieve his putter, he stepped into an area of the cart path containing a depressed drainage grate. As a result, he fell forward and partially onto the wooden step leading down to the green at the second hole.”

Question: Would / could / should Mr. Simon prevail in his suit to recover for personal injuries resulting from this accident?

Answer: No / no / no.

As the court explained,

“Under the doctrine of primary assumption of the risk, ‘by engaging in a sport or recreational activity, a participant consents to those commonly appreciated risks which are inherent in and arise out of the nature of the sport generally and flow from such participation’ …  Those risks include risks associated with the construction of the playing surface and any open and obvious condition on it…”

Therefore, because the plaintiff failed to present any factual argument that would preclude application of the assumption of risk doctrine, “ the defendants were entitled to summary judgment dismissing the complaint.”