Morgan

Plaintiff William C. Morgan appeals a summary judgment favoring Fuji Country USA, Inc. (Fuji), doing business as Castle Creek Country Club, on his complaint for personal injuries. Morgan was hit on the head by an errant golf ball while playing on Fuji’s golf course. He contends the court erred in granting summary judgment based on primary assumption of the risk. We reverse.

I

Factual and Procedural Background

On Fuji’s golf course, several mature pine trees stood between the fourth green and the fifth tee. One of the pines shaded the fifth tee area and a nearby concrete cart path.

Morgan was a member of Castle Creek Country Club and golfed two to three times per week. Occasionally, Morgan watched golf balls hit from the fourth tee fly over the large pine tree and land on either the fifth tee or the adjacent fifth green. In addition, Morgan “many times” saw balls hit from the fourth tee get caught in the boughs of the tree. For protection from flying golf balls, Morgan would routinely stand underneath this particular tree if other golfers ahead of him had not yet cleared the fifth tee area.

The tree became diseased and Fuji removed it a few months before Morgan’s…