ATLANTA – A greater Atlanta area golf course negligently failed to warn golfers of an approaching storm in any of the regularly accepted ways and let a golfer tee off before he was struck by lightning trying to run back to the clubhouse.
The September lightning strike death of 29-year-old Raymond Baxter Jr. at the Bentwood Golf Club in Acworth, Ga., was completely preventable, according to a lawsuit filed this week by the parents of the young man.
Mr. Baxter was a FedEx employee who was engaged to be married. He teed off at the first hole, saw the approaching storm and was hit by lightning as he sprinted back to the clubhouse. His heart stopped when he was struck just seconds from the clubhouse, where staff there did not know whether they had a defibrillator and did not call 911 for five minutes. He died three days later.
“Preventative measures, such as weather protocols, lighting prediction or detection systems, warning sirens, or even simply stopping golfers from going off the first tee, are commonplace and expected at golf courses, yet defendants did not take even the most basic of reasonable measures,” the lawsuit accusing the course of gross negligence states.
“Bentwater Golf Club failed to take even the most basic precautions to protect the life of Ray Baxter Jr., and other golfers by getting them off the course during a storm. Even community pools with teenaged lifeguards do this. There’s no excuse,” said Jason McManis, the AZA partner who is representing the parents along with Atlanta area lawyer Michael Lonati Jr. of Lonati Law Firm P.C.
The lawsuit states that “Recognizing their role in this tragedy, and apparently hoping to assuage their own guilt, Defendants offered Raymond’s parents a token amount of several hundred dollars from a collection it took from other members of the Bentwater Golf Club.”
The case was covered by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in “Acworth golf club blamed in player’s death by lightning strike” (subscription required).
“We think all golf courses should have these types of systems in place to protect their players from weather events like this,” Mr. McManis told the newspaper. “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.”
The lawsuit is Raymond Baxter Sr. et al. v. ClubSpecialists Intl., LLC et al. in Paulding County, Georgia, case no. 24-SV-000566.
AZA, or Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing, is a Houston-based law firm that is home to true courtroom lawyers with a formidable track record in complex commercial litigation, including energy, healthcare, intellectual property and business dispute cases. AZA is recognized by Chambers USA 2024 as among the best in Texas in commercial law and intellectual property; has been listed by Best Lawyers’ Best Law Firms as one of the country’s best commercial litigation firms for 13 years; has been named Litigation Department of the Year by Texas Lawyer three times; and was previously dubbed a Texas Powerhouse law firm by Law360.