The West Windsor Council has introduced an ordinance prohibiting golf in the township’s public parks, or any public open space.
Township officials cited safety hazards and residents’ complaints as the reason for prohibiting the practice, introduced during the council’s February 2 meeting. Recreation and parks division manager Ken Jacobs told the council in November that the issue has become more of a problem, especially at Conover Park, which is near private golf courses.
Jacobs said then that golfers come to the park with their own golf balls and practice hitting them as if they are on the range. He said the balls are being left on the active recreational fields — the soccer fields and lacrosse fields — and that there is the potential for participants to break their ankles if they step on the balls.
In addition, a golf ball can “become a projectile” if a township employee unknowingly runs over one while mowing the grass.
Golf balls have also been blamed for damage to some of the portable light towers located on township fields. And because it is hard to see the golf balls in the grass while mowing, the balls have caused some damage to equipment as workers run over them accidentally.
Neighbors nearby have also complained that people have been hitting balls into their yards and then have gone onto their properties to retrieve them. The township’s general ordinance penalties would apply to rule breakers. A public hearing on the ordinance is scheduled for Monday, March 2.
