Lawsuit: Flying Golf Disc To Blame For Woman Losing Eyesight

MANHATTAN BEACH (CBSLA.com) — City officials in Manhattan Beach faced a lawsuit Monday from a woman who was allegedly injured two years ago by a flying disc at a local park, according to a report.

Hermosa Beach resident Noreen Goodbody filed the lawsuit in July claiming she was struck by the disc while she watched her teenage daughter run at Polliwag Park in August 2012, the Daily Breeze reported.

"In an instant, my life changed. I got hit in the face, it was like getting hit with a hammer," Goodbody said.

Attorney David Ring of the Los Angeles law firm of Taylor & Ring told The Breeze Goodbody "lost 95 percent" of her sight in her left eye, requiring "three or four procedures" to remedy the injury that Ring says have, thus far, been unsuccessful.

"She's probably lost 95 percent of her sight in her left eye," he said. "She's probably had three or four procedures on her eye to try to remedy the problem, but none have been successful."

"It's like looking through a shower curtain," Goodbody said.

The 9-hole disc golf course at Polliwog Park located at the corner of Redondo Avenue and Manhattan Beach Boulevard is open to the public and allows participants to compete as they attempt to traverse a course in the fewest number of throws of the disc, according to a city website.

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The city argues the person who hit Goodbody violated park rules, which state players must avoid throwing discs near park patrons. It also says in the 9 years since the course opened no one else has been seriously hurt.

Disc golf, which became formalized in the 1970s, has surged in popularity over the last few decades and now has its own professional circuit, where some players have earned as much as nearly $43,000 annually competing in the sport, according to the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA).

The lawsuit - which attorneys said is seeking unspecified but "serious compensation" - accuses the city of negligence and allowing a dangerous condition to exist on public property, according to The Breeze.

Goodbody said she wants to see signs advising park visitors that it's a location where disc golf is played.