Golfer who claims spinal injury after falling backwards on embankment seeks €1.2m

A man who claimed he suffered a spinal cord injury when he fell backwards while climbing an embankment during a golf game has sued in the High Court for €1.2 million.

Retired brewery manager and former taxi driver Trevor Martin (69), with an address in Corofin, Tuam, Co Galway, has sued three trustees of Kilkee Golf Club, Co Clare.

Martin claims that on August 2nd, 2014, he hit two golf balls out of bounds and into adjoining land. He went into the property to retrieve them and as he was climbing the embankment back into the golf course, he fell backwards on to a dyke and hit his head, it is claimed.

He lost consciousness and was airlifted to hospital. He underwent an MRI scan which identified spinal cord injury due to trauma, it is claimed.

Martin claims the golf club was negligent in failing, among other things, to construct an appropriate barrier between the adjoining lands or erect appropriate warning signs. The claims are denied.

He told his barrister Claire Collins that as a result of the injury he had been extremely limited in his activities and will need independent care for the rest of his life.

In reply to questions from barrister Edward Walsh, with barrister Paul O’Neill, instructed by Harrison O’Dowd solicitors, and in response to the showing of private detective-filmed video and photos of him in public situations, Martin disagreed the footage showed his movements were unrestricted and mostly unassisted in a number of situations.

Questioned by Judge Tony O’Connor about why he, as an experienced golfer, needed to be told not to “go out of bounds” to get the balls, Martin replied that he did not think it was dangerous. He said it was apparent the golf club was “forcing you to go along this path”.

The judge also asked why, when there was no foothold as he climbed up the embankment, he did not take another route. He replied that golf shoes had spikes and a good grip.

The judge said he had a vision of a steep incline on the embankment but Martin said it was only about three feet and four or five inches in height. “A run, skip and jump and you are over it,” he said.

He also told the judge he was maintaining his €1.2 million claim, which includes a significant sum for care costs, as that is what his experts had come up with.

Martin said he also instructed his solicitor not to bring his personal injuries action against the farmer whose land the balls had gone on to because although he fell back into the farmer’s field, “why would I prosecute an innocent man?”

The court heard that in his personal injury summons in 2017, Martin alleged that he was caused to trip and fall over an unprotected drop in proximity to the fairway on the seventh hole when retrieving a ball.

In his amended personal injury summons in 2026, he claimed he hit two golf balls out of bounds and into an adjoining property. It was stated he went into the adjoining land to retrieve the balls and as he was climbing the embankment, he was caused to fall backwards.

An engineer for Martin’s side told the court that following inspection of the seventh hole and surrounds, his assessment was that this green was “a nightmare situation for golfers and not fair”.

The case continues.