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<H1 property="dc.title">Fairfax County church takes action against TopGolf
driving range for wayward golf balls</H1>
<H3 property="dc.creator">By Justin Jouvenal, <SPAN
class="timestamp updated processed" epochtime="1320542384000"
datetitle="published" pagetype="leaf" contenttype="article">Published:
November 5</SPAN> </H3>
<P>Like something out of the Old Testament, an affliction from on high has
rained down on Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in <A
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fairfax">Fairfax County</A>: golf
balls.</P>
<P>One smashed the rear window of Pastor Bob Barnett’s Honda Odyssey on a
Sunday. Another crashed through a church office window, and a third plunked the
youth director on the head, knocking him down as he worked with a group of
children. In all, 2,637 balls pelted the property during a recent year-long
period, the church claims. Members know because they collected each one.</P>
<P>The source is not divine, but the adjacent <A
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/sports-rec-locations/top-golf,1179869.html">TopGolf</A>,
a state-of-the-art entertainment complex that features a 76-bay, two-level
driving range. When a duffer hits a slice just right, balls can zing about 350
yards over protective netting at the back edge of the range, located off of
South Van Dorn Street, and fly right onto the grounds of Faith Evangelical as if
it were the 18th green.</P>
<P>The church is so teed off that members have invoked an obscure bit of
Virginia law to seek relief. They petitioned a Fairfax court for a special grand
jury to decide whether TopGolf could be prosecuted as an ongoing public
nuisance.</P>
<P>The special grand jury, which convened in October, concluded that there’s
reason to pursue the misdemeanor charge. The maneuver set legal gears turning
that could result in a January jury trial and possibly a $25,000 fine for
TopGolf.</P>
<P>TopGolf is stunned, legal observers are intrigued and court officials are
scrambling to understand how the little-used law works. Meanwhile, the church,
which has about 350 members and has been at its current location since 1996, is
forging ahead.</P>
<P>“They want one thing: to stop the barrage of golf balls,” said Faith
Evangelical’s attorney, Benjamin T. Riddles II. “The church lives in fear of a
fatal injury.”</P>
<P>TopGolf chief executive Joe Vrankin said the complex has done everything
possible to corral balls, including spending about $350,000 on possible
solutions and working closely with the church.</P>
<P>Vrankin ticked off a list: Warning signs have been installed, tees have been
lowered and the upper deck of the range is closed when the church has Sunday
services or special events. When TopGolf replaced a range on the site in 2005,
it raised the height of the netting around the facility to more than 100
feet.</P>
<P>TopGolf even hired what Vrankin called a “ball flight expert” to analyze the
trajectory of balls and recommend safety measures. And Vrankin said TopGolf has
paid as much as $2,000 for damage caused by balls hit onto church grounds in
recent years.</P>
<P>Vrankin said it requires a “Tiger Woods drive” to clear the netting. The
problem, he said, is that 10 million balls are hit at TopGolf each year, so
some are bound to sail onto church property.</P>
<P>But he said it’s rare for a ball to fly so far. According to Vrankin,
“99.9927 percent of balls stay in the property line.”</P>
<P>How does he know?</P>
<P>TopGolf outfits each ball with a microchip that allows the company to track
the length of the drive and the number of balls hit. “Not only, without
question, is it the safest golf center in the county, the reality is that they
just don’t want us there,” Vrankin said of those at the church.</P>
<P>The dispute over errant duffers has gone on for years. Both sides said they
have worked with each other and with county officials to come up with fixes, but
in the eyes of the church, the problem remains.</P>
<P>Several church members declined to speak on the record, but some agreed to
provide background information. One said the catalyst for their anger was when
youth director Jarrett Van Tine was hit in April. He suffered sharp pain and
ringing in his ears, the church’s complaint to the grand jury said.</P>
<P>The same member said the church did not want to file a civil suit because it
could drain the church’s finances. So after attorneys suggested trying a
continuing public-nuisance complaint, the church was game. “The complaint is
something we didn’t do lightly,” said Pastor Neil Smith.</P>
<P>Under Virginia law, when five or more citizens make a complaint to the
circuit court about a continuing public nuisance, the court is required to
convene a special grand jury to investigate. Nine members of the church signed
on.</P>
<P>Such complaints are rare. “I’ve never seen it in the 16 or so years I’ve been
on the bench,” said Dennis J. Smith, chief judge of the Fairfax County Circuit
Court.</P>
<P>In its complaint, the church says a “massive, intolerable, dangerous and life
threatening quantity of golf balls” has been driven onto its property. The
church even held off on building a playground.</P>
<P>The county’s commonwealth’s attorney could decide to prosecute the TopGolf
case or decline. The case also could be handed over to a special counsel. Both
sides could head to court Jan. 23 if they don’t iron out their differences
before then.</P>
<P></P>
<P><I>Staff writer Tom Jackman contributed to this report.</I> </P>
<P></P></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>_________________________________</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>Wayne A. Fox<BR><A
href="mailto:wayne.a.fox@gmail.com">wayne.a.fox@gmail.com</A><BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>