[Chellybean]

Originally Posted by twoplanekid

according to Grok ->

No. There is no Florida statute that gives golfers a general legal right to enter private residential property to retrieve a golf ball. Florida’s general trespass law (Fla. Stat. § 810.09) applies: entering someone’s property without authorization, license, or invitation can be trespass (a misdemeanor).
Retrieving your own golf ball does not create an automatic exception under the criminal statutes.

In The VillagesOfficial Villages / DistrictGov golf etiquette is clear and stricter:

Do not enter residential yards to retrieve balls.

If the ball lands on private property, treat it as out of bounds and play a new one.
Playing beyond the property line of residential homes is strictly prohibited (even if not marked by out-of-bounds stakes).

So in The Villages, course rules prohibit retrieval from homeowners’ yards regardless of the broader Florida golf-community practice.

Thank goodness there are no house properties adjacent to pickleball courts as balls can sometimes leap over the tall fences around the courts.

Finally a voice of reason!
Thank You!

[margaretmattson]

Originally Posted by Chellybean

Finally a voice of reason!
Thank You!

Give it a few minutes. Someone will post they do indeed have the right to enter private property to retrieve a golf ball. Why? It is the homeowner's stupid fault for purchasing a home on a golf course. LMAO.

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

It certainly is. Especially when it's unrelated to the subject and original post.

Originally Posted by twoplanekid

according to Grok ->

No. There is no Florida statute that gives golfers a general legal right to enter private residential property to retrieve a golf ball. Florida’s general trespass law (Fla. Stat. § 810.09) applies: entering someone’s property without authorization, license, or invitation can be trespass (a misdemeanor).
Retrieving your own golf ball does not create an automatic exception under the criminal statutes.

In The VillagesOfficial Villages / DistrictGov golf etiquette is clear and stricter:

Do not enter residential yards to retrieve balls.

If the ball lands on private property, treat it as out of bounds and play a new one.
Playing beyond the property line of residential homes is strictly prohibited (even if not marked by out-of-bounds stakes).

So in The Villages, course rules prohibit retrieval from homeowners’ yards regardless of the broader Florida golf-community practice.

Thank goodness there are no house properties adjacent to pickleball courts as balls can sometimes leap over the tall fences around the courts.

By almost every barometer, GROK is the least competent of all the well known AI Agents.

Further, I don't have any interest in what GROK, or ChatGPT or Gemini or Claude has to say. I've dealt with these specific issues for years and I know exactly how they usually play out.

All I asked, was: Does this white chain, qualify as a "fence" and per The Villages regulations, it does in my opinion.

& it was still there, today.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

By almost every barometer, GROK is the least competent of all the well known AI Agents.

Further, I don't have any interest in what GROK, or ChatGPT or Gemini or Claude has to say. I've dealt with these specific issues for years and I know exactly how they usually play out.

All I asked, was: Does this white chain, qualify as a "fence" and per The Villages regulations, it does in my opinion.

& it was still there, today.

To me, the chain is a safety hazard. I can see someone driving a golf cart at dusk and running into that chain and getting seriously injured or worse. If that happened, trespassing would be the least of the homeowner's problem. I would remove the chain.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

To me, the chain is a safety hazard. I can see someone driving a golf cart at dusk and running into that chain and getting seriously injured or worse. If that happened, trespassing would be the least of the homeowner's problem. I would remove the chain.

The blind shouldn’t be driving period let alone on golf course after sun goes down.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by twoplanekid

according to Grok ->

No. There is no Florida statute that gives golfers a general legal right to enter private residential property to retrieve a golf ball. Florida’s general trespass law (Fla. Stat. § 810.09) applies: entering someone’s property without authorization, license, or invitation can be trespass (a misdemeanor).
Retrieving your own golf ball does not create an automatic exception under the criminal statutes.

In The VillagesOfficial Villages / DistrictGov golf etiquette is clear and stricter:

Do not enter residential yards to retrieve balls.

If the ball lands on private property, treat it as out of bounds and play a new one.
Playing beyond the property line of residential homes is strictly prohibited (even if not marked by out-of-bounds stakes).

So in The Villages, course rules prohibit retrieval from homeowners’ yards regardless of the broader Florida golf-community practice.

Thank goodness there are no house properties adjacent to pickleball courts as balls can sometimes leap over the tall fences around the courts.

Well, that ends it!

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

Well, that ends it!

Maybe, maybe not. For it to end, one has to believe that the AI site "Grok" is right and multiple Florida law firms specializing in real estate law are wrong.

But I agree with Chellybean----why bother with a potential hassle over a golf ball

Personally, when someone hits a ball onto my lawn, I tell them to go ahead and get it, and probably 98% of golf front owners do the same thing. But it's good to know that the law may protect grouches as well

[margaretmattson]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

Well, that ends it!

Except, the same information has been posted several times on this thread. There are those who believe what the Villages has provided is only Golfer ETIQUETTE. Not a law. This is the reason this thread has continued on and on. Some actually believe it is their god given right to enter private property to retrieve a golf ball.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by margaretmattson

Except, the same information has been posted several times on this thread. There are those who believe what the Villages has provided is only Golfer ETIQUETTE. Not a law. This is the reason this thread has continued on and on. Some actually believe it is their god given right to enter private property to retrieve a golf ball.

It probably depends on where it is. Good luck if it is in a flower bed, bush, water bowl of a nasty Rottweiler sleeping a foot away....

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by Chellybean

Well since its your OPINION i guess its a fence unbelievable!
What in Gods name does it matter, its not your property its a simple declination line telling the entitled golfer to stay out!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could not possibly care less what you believe.

The property is already market with a "simple declination line". They're called "White Stakes" and they mark the property lines of every golf course in the world.

If it's a "fence", it should be removed. That's what most everyone's Deed Restrictions & Covenants say and that's what The Villages regulations say. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.