26 golf digest | issue 4. 2020Play The Ethicist
Safety Netor Eyesore?A golf-homeowner draws theire of neighborsT
he great american poet robert frost once wrote
that good fences make good neighbors. He clearly never
spent much time in New Jersey. ▶ The Ethicist realizes
it must seem like the Garden State is the epicenter for every
moral dilemma coming down the, um, turnpike, but he’s
confident New York (and Connecticut) will get a turn soon
enough. ▶ In this episode, the jousting is focused on some upscale
properties adjacent to Manasquan River Golf Club in Brielle,
on the New Jersey Shore an hour south of Manhattan. There,
homeowners have more on their minds than the standard
complaints about being pelted by crooked tee shots from the
venerable 98-year-old club’s members. Specifically, we’re
talking about a 65-foot-high net one resident erected to keep
Manasquan’s balls from hitting his clapboard. In an area where
homes can sell for more than $1 million, the driving-range-style
net isn’t exactly being embraced as an “improvement.”