Signs posted recently at the Resort at the Mountain have some members of
the community crying “out of bounds.”

The response from the Resort could be described as “you get a mulligan.”
Signs went up the last week of September along the golf course on Fairway
Avenue letting passersby know that the Resort is private property and walking
and biking is not allowed.

Tricia Hudson, of Welches, was alarmed at the new rules.

“I am very disappointed,” Hudson told The Mountain Times. “Safety is the
number one reason I walk at the golf course nearly every week for the last
four years.”

Hudson’s strolls are most important to her as she suffers from seasonal
affective disorder (SAD).

“The open golf course provides the most sunlight which helps decrease the
number of symptoms due to many dark and dreary days the cloud cover
creates up here.”

Frank Casarez, general manager of the Resort, is stuck in the sand trap of the
complaints. He has received others from golf course property owners
regarding the newly posted signs.

“We’ve also had guests (golfers and lodgers) complain about the course being
used as a playground,” Casarez said. “It’s only a few people who have caused
this. I know that.”

But in August a woman (not a guest) crashed her bicycle on the course and
died of her injuries. The issue of liability flew off the tee directly into the cart
of the Resort’s lawyers.

“We have to protect the Resort,” Casarez said. “People need to know this is
private property. The signs are not to alienate anyone in the community. We
care about the community. But there’s also the liability issue.”

Casarez emphasized the Resort’s desire to be a good neighbor, but part of
being a good neighbor is to be a responsible one.

“We want people to use the Resort, but we also need protection,” he said.
Casarez also knows the history of the Resort and realizes that locals will
continue to walk and bike on the property.

“We’re not going to police it,” he said. “We can’t patrol the golf course. People
will do it anyway. We know that. But it’s also not a public park.”

However, marshals will have the right to enforce the private property rules
and if they see someone holding up golfers or creating a safety hazard they
will do so.

But to the casual walker or biker who is being courteous and yielding the right
of way to golfers, there will probably not be an issue with the marshals,
according to Casarez.

“We’ve told our marshals not to be difficult, or rude, and to treat people with
dignity,” he said. “And, we’ve told them they shouldn’t say anything if there
are no golfers in the area.”

So there are new signs — a liability issue — but it appears that courteous and
alert locals may continue to play through.