Woman Injured by Golf Cart Wins $424,00 Award in Suit

An Orange County Superior Court jury awarded more than $420,000 to a woman who sued a Newport Beach golf course after she was struck and injured by a golf cart.

“It was probably a fair verdict,” said Phillip L. Bush, the attorney who represented Sharon Wolf in her lawsuit against Newport Beach Golf Course.

Wolf, a Midway City resident, was playing a round of golf with her husband in June, 1987, when she was hit by a cart driven by the course marshal, Bush said. Course marshals generally enforce the rules of play and watch for trespassers.

Bush said the accident occurred inside a tunnel that links the course’s first nine holes to the back nine holes.

“The cart appeared to be out of control,” Bush said.

Bush said his client suffered injuries to her neck and spine and had to undergo surgery to correct the damage. He added that Wolf continues to experience dizziness as a result of her injuries.

James L. Chase, the attorney for the golf course, and Bernard Anderson, the course marshal, said the jury’s award was reasonable, especially considering that Wolf was seeking about $2.5 million.

“We admitted liability in this case,” Chase said. “It was just one of those things. Nobody did anything wrong. It was simply a golf cart versus a pedestrian.”

During the five-day trial, jurors listened to testimony from medical experts and heard evidence about how the accident affected Wolf’s formerly active lifestyle.

The jury reached a 10-2 decision late Thursday. The jurors gave Wolf a total of $424,000 in compensatory damages. Her husband, Louis Wolf, was awarded $10,000 for loss of consortium.

Both Sharon and Louis Wolf declined to comment on the verdict.