There was a terrible story in the news today. A 65-year-old golfer died on May 22 after his cart plunged 75 feet at a golf course called Pala Mesa Resort Golf Course in Fallbrook, Calif. Apparently, he drove off a cliff and fell onto a road below. He was ejected from the cart as it fell and died when he hit the ground. To me, it was a serious and sorrowful story and brings to mind places I’ve been where it was possible to fall that far in a golf cart.

I played at The Raven once at Snowshoe Resort in West Virginia. There are sheer cliffs there, some right beside fairways and greens. The beauty of the land is disarming, and the danger is real.

It also reminded me of a fraternity outing I once played at a course in the Columbus, Ohio area called Bent Tree Golf Club. The course has a par 4 that has a fairway that’s divided into tiers. After the second tier, there is a sheer cliff that plunges down to a creek below.

I was sitting in the clubhouse when I saw two guys drive their cart right over this cliff. I couldn’t believe it. They both jumped out of the cart as it careened down the steep embankment, rolling away from the cart before it overturned in the creek. The drop was probably 60 feet.

Both the guys were unharmed (but certainly rattled) and the course staff was none to happy to have to get out a tractor to haul the damaged cart out of the creek. At the time, everyone in the outing laughed about it and gave the two dummies a hard time. Given today’s news, I realize that things could have gone much worse and I’m thankful that some embarrassment and payment for the cart was all that happened.

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