The family of a golfer, who got struck by lightning, is blaming the golf course for his death. They filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the golf course.
29-year-old Raymond Baxter died after getting struck by lighting. He had been teeing off with his buddies on September 12, 2023, at Bentwater Golf Club in Acworth, Atlanta. That's when the fateful bolt hit him.
At the time, they had spotted the storm cloud and attempted to run back to the clubhouse. The golfer never made it. He later died of his injuries three days later. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the golf course should have warned them. They stated, "Any reasonable warning would have saved Raymond Jr.'s life."
Golf Course Sued After Golfer Struck By Lightning
The family claims the golf course should have preventative measures such as "weather protocols, lighting prediction or detection systems, warning sirens, or even simply stopping golfers from going off the first tee."
"(These measures) are commonplace and expected at golf courses, yet defendants did not take even the most basic of reasonable measures," the lawsuit said.
The family also alleges that staff waited five minutes to call for help and did not know if there was an automated external defibrillator on site. The lawsuit noted that the golf course recognized culpability in the golfer's death. It "offered Raymond's parents a token amount of several hundred dollars from a collection it took from other members of the Bentwater Golf Club."
"We think all golf courses should have these types of systems in place to protect their players from weather events like this," the golfer's parents' attorneys said. "If golf courses start to recognize that they can be responsible for a tragic accident like this, when they could have taken steps to prevent it, that's going to encourage more golf courses to put these systems in place. And ultimately, that's the kind of thing that we're hoping for."
"Unfortunately, this individual paid his life and the ultimate price for what occurred," they also added.
Meanwhile, he golfer is remembered as "beautiful spirit, funny, strong minded, unselfish, caring, and most of all loved."
