An assistant golf professional, who sustained severe spinal injuries after falling onto the wooden collar of a golf course bunker, has been awarded 1.5 million dollars in compensation for injury at golf course by a New Jersey jury.

Floyd Romyns (44) of Blairstown, New Jersey, had been accompanying a group of golfers at the Newton Country Club in Morris County in June 2006 when, just prior to attempting his approach shot to the fifteenth green from a recently renovated bunker, he slipped on a loose piece of turf, fell into the bunker and hit his head on a wooden collar left behind from the renovation work.

The impact of his head on the collar left Floyd with head, neck and back injuries which resulted in multiple surgeries to fuse back in place six levels of cervical and thoracic spine. Floyd also had to undergo an extended period of rehabilitation and he still suffers pain from his injuries today. After seeking legal advice, Floyd made a personal injury compensation claim against All Turf Inc. of Long Valley, New Jersey – the company contracted by the Newton Country Club to renovate the bunkers.

The jury at the State Superior Court in Morristown dismissed claims that Floyd had contributed to his injuries by his own lack of care and found All Turf Inc negligent in not removing the wooden collar from the perimeter of the bunker. They awarded him 1.5 million dollars in compensation for injury at golf course to account for the physical and mental impairment Floyd had suffered along with the loss in his quality of life during his rehabilitation.