UPDATE: The barriers are now up (see photo).
The Coronado City Council voted four to one to build barriers along the 15th fairway of the Coronado municipal golf course to protect tennis players on the adjacent courts. Councilwoman Barbara Denny was the lone ‘no’ vote.
Denny had a number of questions about the proposed project. She wanted to know, for example, what kind of materials would be used in the fence. “We really want know what this is going to look like,” she said. She also questioned whether the city had explored all of its options. “Did you consider having a buzzer go off when a golf ball came into a court?” she asked.
The Coronado Tennis Association (CTA) said a fence was the only way to project tennis players from injury.
“Golf balls coming into the tennis courts is serious business,” said CTA President Jenny Portelli. “The council has the power to protect tennis players, especially the children.”
Mayor Casey Tanaka agreed. “It is our responsibility to keep golf balls out of the tennis courts,” he said.
Residents who live directly across from the tennis center expressed concern that the proposed fence would spoil their view and ruin the aesthetics of the neighborhood.
“It’s going to be a disgrace,” said Curtis Worley. “Glorietta deserves better.”
Bill Kelly questioned whether there really was a safety issue. “How often are courts utilized? How many people are at risk?” he asked the city council.
He urged the council to collect more data before going forward with the fence.
Golf balls have been flying into the courts at the Coronado Tennis Center for years. The courts sit behind the 15th hole of the golf course. Because the two are in close proximity, errant balls often hit the courts rather than the fairway. There have been countless near misses and a few direct hits on tennis players reported. One had to be taken to the emergency room after a golf ball hit him in the head.
The city’s initial response was to plant a hedge and build a small fence. Neither was effective. They also posted signs at each court warning tennis plays of the dangers and advise them they played at their own risk and that the city was not liable.
At the meeting City Attorney Johanna Canlas said that when people play tennis at the center “they assume risk, but that doesn’t stop people from making clams and having a fence would reduce the risk [of that happening.]”
Determining that more needed to be done, a working group, made up of golfers, tennis players and city staff, looked at ways to fix the problem. Golf architect Steve Halsey of Halsey Design Group (HDG) served as advisor to the group.
Besides barrier fencing, the group looked at enclosing part or the entire tennis center roof with netting; re-orientating 15th hole or shortening its length. The latter three options were deemed ineffective or impractical.
“We did shorten hole for 60 days and saw no discernable improvement,” said Roger Miller, director of golf operations. The number of balls hitting the courts dropped to 2.26 per week down from 3.16 per week. In the end the working group determined that barrier fencing was the only solution.
Ironically the idea of fencing the fairway was the one of recommendations HDG made in 2007 when the new Tennis Center was being designed. After trying a litany of alternatives, the city has finally gotten around to following the original recommendations.
