He was sitting at a red light when a golf ball hit his windshield. He wasn’t pleased with the answers he got when he reported it to Gus Wortham Golf Course.
HOUSTON — A Houston driver is raising safety concerns after a frightening close call in the city’s East End.
Caught on dashcam video, a golf ball appeared to rocket off Gus Wortham Park Golf Course and shatter the windshield of a driver stopped at a red light along Wayside Drive and Jamail Road.
The driver, 71-year-old Miguel Galan, said it happened on Aug. 17 just after 11 a.m.
“Came this way and hit my windshield and bounced that way, like you can see it on the video,” Galan told KHOU 11’s Michelle Choi, pointing to where the ball struck.
The impact left him shaken.
“I got out of the car and I was looking around until I looked at my windshield and it was all cracked so bad, it was unbelievable, really,” said Galan.
At first, Galan thought another driver had rear-ended him.
“I thought I got hit from behind when I heard the pop; it was pretty loud,” he said.
When he went straight to the golf course to report it, Galan said employees told him to go through his own insurance.
“So when you asked them to take responsibility, what was the response you got?” asked Choi.
“They told me I had to open an insurance claim with my insurance,” Galan said. “And my question was, why did I have to open a claim with my insurance for their damage?”
Galan, an Uber driver who relies on his car for work, said repairs cost him more than $1,000. He has since filed a lawsuit in small claims court, but says his bigger concern is public safety.
He pointed out that the area where it happened is always busy with cars, a grocery store, two bus stops, apartments, and an elementary school just down the street.
When asked if he was worried someone might get hurt, “Yes, very much, because if you notice early in the morning there’s a line of cars maybe quarter of a mile for people getting in line to drop off their kids at the elementary, at the same time, while they’re waiting they’ve got people coming into the grocery store.”
Since the incident, Galan has begun collecting stray golf balls along Wayside. In just 10 days, he said he picked up more than 50.
“That’s 51 golf balls I picked up on the curb coming from Polk Street all the way to Lawndale and even under the bridge,” Galan said.
While KHOU 11 was interviewing him, another golf ball landed on Jamail Road near the same spot where his car was hit. Two men picked it up and handed it over.
“This just happened, right?” Choi asked.
“Fifty-two,” Galan said, adding it to his collection.
Galan said he’s hopeful changes will come, and believes the solution could be simple, protective netting, like at other Houston golf courses.
“Install a netting to protect all the people on this side of the fence, because right now it’s only a 6-foot chain link fence,” he said. “You can replace a vehicle, but you cannot replace a person.”
KHOU 11 reached out to Houston Golf Association, which operates and manages Gus Wortham, about whether additional safety measures are being considered. HGA sent us the following statement:
“The HGA, like most parties to a lawsuit, does not typically comment on pending litigation. However, the HGA denies any responsibility for the claims, which remain under investigation. Upon conclusion of the investigation, we plan to take reasonable and necessary steps to make sure our neighbors around Gus Wortham Park Golf Course are safe relative to the community’s use of the golf course.”
Got a news tip or story idea? Email us at newstips@khou.com and include the best way to reach you.