Golf club complaints: Broken windows and roof tiles, and a ball that narrowly missed a baby
Sunday, 12 July 2026
Four Christchurch neighbours whose homes border Avondale Golf Club have complained of regular stray golf balls causing smashed windows, broken roof tiles, and multiple close calls.
One mum claimed her 9-week-old baby was nearly struck when a stray golf ball came through an open sliding door and landed about 30cm from him.
Kāinga Ora confirmed it had spent $15,000 repairing golf ball-related damage to neighbouring units since 2020.
Avondale Golf Club said it took its duty of care seriously and had introduced extensive mitigation strategies to reduce wayward balls.
Solving stuff is where we investigate reader complaints and push for answers. You can read more about the project here, and submit your story for consideration at the end of the article.
In this instalment: Last week we brought you the story of Avondale Golf Club neighbours Helen and Robert Oliver, who claimed stray golf balls had dented their cars. Now, four more neighbours of the Christchurch course have told Stuff their tales of supposed near misses and property damage. Natalie Akoorie reports.
The problem
Smashed windows, broken roof tiles and a golf ball landing at speed inches from a baby’s head - these are the complaints of some neighbours of Avondale Golf Club in Christchurch.
Since we highlighted Helen and Robert Oliver’s experience living across the road from the course last week, neighbours whose homes back onto the course have contacted Stuff.
Zoe Findlay and Te Kurawhiti Hitchens bought their home on Waratah St bordering the golf course a year ago.
“When we purchased our home, we understood that living next to a golf course would likely mean the occasional golf ball landing on our property,” Findlay said.
“However, the scale of the issue has been far beyond what we could reasonably have expected.
In 12 months they claimed they’d collected about 85 golf balls from their back and front yards, they said.
But a “particularly frightening” incident prompted Findlay to complain to the club in March.
Hitchens was breastfeeding their baby son when an errant golf ball allegedly came through the open sliding door and landed 30cm from the infant’s head.
“It just happened so quick, it was out of nowhere,” Findlay told Stuff.
“This golf ball came really quickly and intensely, and whacked really close on the couch - about 30cm from his head - with a loud bang.
“It is terrifying when we realise how close it was to our 9-week-old baby’s head. That would probably be fatal.
“We had a bit of a cry because we were just so shocked, so frightened.”
What went wrong
On the opposite side of the course on Wainoni Rd, three Kāinga Ora tenants say they are having similar problems.
Trish Boese, 69, and 85-year-old Mary Finlayson’s units back onto the golf course.
Finlayson said the lounge and side windows in her unit had been smashed more than once and she also blamed broken roof tiles on stray golf balls.
Both she and Boese believed broken roof tiles on their respective units led to leaking into the ceiling cavity.
Boese said her kitchen ceiling caved in and Finlayson said her lounge ceiling had collapsed.
A few years back Boese was almost hit in the head by a ball while getting out of her car.
A third tenant, Dayle Tawhara, 64, said she still had a shopping bag full of golf balls after selling a lot with her grandson.
She said Kāinga Ora was constantly called on to repair damaged properties at the site.
Kāinga Ora Canterbury regional director Liz Krause confirmed reports from tenants of the units closest to the golf course of balls striking their homes or landing in their gardens.
“Where a stray golf ball causes damage to a property, repairs are carried out at no cost to the tenant or the golf club,” Krause said.
“Since 2020, Kāinga Ora has spent around $15,000 on repairs resulting from stray golf balls.
“These have included fixing broken windows, damaged roof tiles and, in one case, damage to a heat pump.”
Findlay said they wrote to the club after the incident with their baby but were disappointed with the response, which is similar to what Sinclair has provided Stuff for this article.
“We would like to see the golf club take greater responsibility for the safety of neighbouring residents and investigate measures such as protective netting or other practical solutions to reduce the risk,” Findlay said.
They said moving wasn’t an option so they now had to consider how to live in their home and on the property.
“We’ll just have to be in the front yard which still gets golf balls in it but nowhere near as much, and going to the park lots, or just going outside and hoping for the best.
“We don’t really know what we’re going to do to be honest, and there’s lots of young families on this street as well, so I guess other people are probably facing the same issue.”
Tawhara and Boese said players should be required to stamp their balls with a name or number so that individual golfers could be contacted.
What we did
Stuff sent questions to Avondale Golf Club general manager Richard Sinclair, as well as Golf New Zealand and Kāinga Ora - whose response is above.
Sinclair sent a detailed response and also rang Stuff.
In the statement he said the club had received a lot of support from members and neighbours alike following the article last Sunday.
“This in no way changes our desire to further reduce the chance of stray golf balls and any member or visitor to the course would agree this has been high on our agenda for many years, not just the last week.”
He said the club took its duty of care to neighbours very seriously and it had “wide ranging strategies” in place to mitigate stray balls.
These included the introduction of extra initiatives several years ago such as:
Widening and reshaping of fairways;
Removal of trees on the interior of the course on boundary holes to make more room for play away from the fenceline;
Retention and pruning of trees where they protect neighbouring properties;
Positioning of tees and tee blocks to make golfers play away from fences;
Signage on every boundary hole tee block;
Additional larger signs at intervals around the boundary holes;
- And safety fences where effective.
There was also plenty of signs including:
A clear message on the front of every scorecard printed with as many as 40,000 rounds per year;
Signage on arrival at the club, in the car park, and the office window where players sign in and begin each round;
A sandwich board in the trundler park at the first tee;
Reminders and messaging via email, Facebook posts, notice boards and the back of scorecards;
Conversations with visitors and regulars about how important it is for them to play their part by playing responsibly;
And a move away from/refusal of large group bookings where the golfers may not echo club concerns.
“These messages may seem repetitive and confronting to golfers but we are happy if that conveys our true desire as a club to reduce the number of stray golf balls.”
Sinclair said the club understood neighbours’ concerns and would continue to work on further strategies to reduce stray balls where possible.
“I can tell you hand-on-heart that from the steadily reducing rate of incidents and calls to our club and insurer that we have greatly reduced the instances of wayward golf balls.
“Confronting the golfer and reminding them of their duty of care, on top of all of the mitigating strategies alongside a membership that shares that concern and cherishes the opportunity to play at Avondale is central to this reduction. We know this is working.”
Sinclair said the club had been on the site for 107 years and was an integral part of the community, but development had sprung up around the course on land the club did not own or control.
He said after the 2011 earthquake there was discussion around whether to relocate the course to make land available for housing.
“We had many neighbours and locals staunchly opposed, some even threatening legal action. It is clearly desirable to live near or on the course. It is our desire to remain and keep it so.”
Meanwhile, technological advances have meant the golf ball goes further than ever which means players often swing hard with little or no idea of where the ball is going. But it still goes a long way.
Did we solve it?
No, but this time we’ve heard from Golf NZ chief executive Jeff Latch on the issue.
In a statement, Latch said the organisation was “genuinely sorry” to hear about the incidents, including the near misses with Findlay and Hitchens’ baby and with Boese exiting her car.
“That's frightening, and we don't take it lightly.”
Latch said New Zealanders played around 5.5 million rounds of golf a year across 390-plus clubs.
He said clubs generally worked hard on hole siting and design specifically to keep balls off neighbouring properties.
“Even with that care, it will happen occasionally with golf being played at that volume.”
Latch said Golf NZ’s role was as the sport's governing body, supporting clubs with guidance, resources and shared best practice, rather than as a regulator with powers over how each course was run.
“Clubs are independently owned and operated, often as their own incorporated societies or trusts, so decisions about their land and safety measures are naturally made at club level, closest to the local conditions, in consultation with their insurers and council where relevant.”
He said nets and tree removal were significant, site-specific decisions.
“What suits one course won't suit another, so they're best made by the club that knows its own layout, rather than set as a blanket rule from a national body.”
Latch echoed Sinclair’s sentiments on requiring golfers to have stamped or identifiable balls.
'It’s a thoughtful idea worth clubs considering locally, but it's worth noting that the majority of golfers in New Zealand, over 200,000 people, aren't club members at all.
“Stamping or marking would only ever reach club members, so on its own it's unlikely to make a material difference to the problem your readers are describing.'
The New Standard: If it’s unfair to you, it’s fair game for us.
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