My child could end up in a coma from stray golf balls: Father fears for his family's safety as wayward shots from 18-hole course cause thousands of pounds worth of damage to home

Published: 15:36, 1 June 2026 | Updated: 15:40, 1 June 2026 A father is demanding safety improvements at a golf club next door to his million-pound detached home after being plagued by stray balls hitting the property. William Fennell, 54, claims that the lives of his children aged ten and seven have been put at risk, with more than 60 balls flying into his garden or driveway in the last two years alone. He has been left with a £3,000 bill to repair two of his family cars – a Tesla Model 3 and Volvo V90 – which have been damaged by wayward shots. Several roof tiles on the outbuilding of his 16th century thatched house have also been smashed by balls from the 17th hole at the Ufford Park Resort near Woodbridge, Suffolk. Mr Fennell, who had a near miss when a ball flew past his ear, fears one of his children could end up in a coma if hit on the head in a 'catastrophic' accident. But he claims that the Ufford Park Resort has failed to accept responsibility and refused to pay for the damaged cars, despite legal threats. He is now shaming the club after buying the domain name uffordparkresort.com and setting up a website on it to show pictures of balls which have landed at his property. The tongue-in-cheek website invites golfers to reclaim their balls for free – but so far no players have come forward to get them back. William Fennell, 54, claims that scores of balls that have flown into his property, including one that damaged his Volvo XC90, pictured Mr Fennell, who works as a joiner, moved with his wife to their historic five-bedroom home eight years ago, knowing that it bordered the 18-hole course which opened in 1992 in 119 acres of historic parkland. He said he was initially happy to put up the 'odd one or two balls' flying into his garden from golfers slicing their drives on the 458-yard par four 17th hole. But he became increasingly irritated when he noticed that a number of tiles on his outbuilding had been broken by mishit shots. Mr Fennell said he found balls on the ground next to the outbuilding each time his roof was damaged. He said: 'It then occurred to me that a ball flying on to my property could cause serious injury to my children, my wife and I, or anyone visiting us. 'I had a few tiles left over from when I built the outbuilding, so I could do the repairs myself. I went to the club to tell them what happened and they promised to look into it. 'But then our Tesla had its bonnet dented by a ball a couple of months later in 2024. The whole bonnet had to be replaced at a cost of around £1,500. 'When I went back to the club to complain, they said they had no record of me talking to them earlier. The manager at the time told me he would take it up with their board. Roof tiles have been cracked by wayward shots, the joiner said Mr Fennell who had a near miss when a ball flew past his ear, fears one of his children could end up in a coma if hit on the head in a 'catastrophic' accident 'But then I got an email back saying they were not responsible and would not be paying anything. 'I tried to speak to the senior management team and they would not engage with me. Their attitude was that there was nothing to see here. 'As a result of the Tesla being hit, I set up a spreadsheet to record all the instances of balls continuing to fly over, showing where they landed on my property and any damage caused. 'Then last year, the Volvo got a dent in the front bodywork. It is a contract hire car and we will have to pay the £1,500 cost of repairs before it is returned. 'The damage to the Volvo opened my eyes to the potential damage that an errant ball could cause by hitting someone on the head. 'We ended up engaging a solicitor and there was a brief exchange of letters, but Ufford Park would not take responsibility.' Mr Fennell was advised to take the club to court to get compensation for his damaged cars but suspended legal action as he feared his costs might soar to £10,000. He then decided to investigate other ways of pursuing the club, which has fees of £1,199-a-year for seven-day members, and decided to spend around £20 buying several internet domain names linked to it. The golf balls are allegedly flying into his garden from golfers slicing their drives on the 458-yard par four 17th hole After chatting to his brother who works as a website developer, he decided to use one of the names to set up the website giving golfers a chance to reclaim their balls. Mr Fennell now publishes photographs of balls which land in his garden, showing their corporate or manufacturer's logos in the hope that they will be recognised. His website is advertised on a noticeboard at the end of his garden so it can be seen by golfers on the 17th hole. Mr Fennell said: 'Some people are saying that the golf course was already there when I bought my house, so I should not be moaning about balls that come over. 'But I should have a right to feel safe in my own garden and not be at risk from physical harm due to my next door neighbour's business activities. 'People might say it is like living next to an airport and putting up with noise but noise isn't going to put you in hospital. It's ludicrous to suggest it's our fault for moving here. 'I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for golf balls to be kept within the confines of the course. I am not against golfers but the course ought to take responsibility. 'I can't stop my kids playing outside but I am constantly thinking of the potential danger of balls flying over.' Mr Fennell has started collecting the balls and offering them back to their owners via a website he has set up  A cluster of golf balls at Mr Fennell's million pound detached home Ufford Park Resort has failed to accept responsibility and refused to pay for the damaged cars, despite legal threats, Mr Fennell said The photos on the website show the manufacturers' details, to help owners trace their missing balls His fears were amplified when he heard 'a click' of a golfer hitting a ball in the distance as he walked to his car, followed by 'a whistling sound' as a ball flew past his ear and landed in a flower bed beside him. He described the incident in January this year as 'terrifying'. Mr Fennell said his aim remained to get Ufford Park Resort to pay for the damage to his family cars and to 'engage a professional golf course architect' and act on any recommendations to improve safety. He said that the course and its layout needed to be 'brought up to date' to take into account improvements in golf club technology in recent years which meant players could now hit balls harder and further. Mr Fennell added: 'The real story is that they don't want to spend any money and they have acted with impunity. It is a business that is endangering its neighbours and behaving disgracefully.' The Ufford Park Resort, which was purchased for an undisclosed price by LQ Resorts in 2022, said it conducted 'regular reviews of risk' to all those who use the course and those who live nearby. A statement by the resort, which includes a 90-room hotel, spa and gym, said: 'We are tremendously proud of our local reputation and work tirelessly to ensure that our golf course is at the heart of the community. 'We take our responsibilities extremely seriously. We are committed to providing a safe environment for our team, visitors and neighbours. 'Since opening back in 1992, we have engaged in course redesign, signage and education whilst reminding golfers of their responsibilities of care whilst playing.' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.