Elkridge residents push Howard County to take action as golf balls damage homes on course

For years, homeowners in an Elkridge neighborhood, in Howard County, have been dealing with damage caused by golf balls.

Kevin Letow and Karen Savage live right next to each other, along The Timbers at Troy's Golf Course, particularly right by hole 13.

Both say they understand this could happen from time to time because of how close they are to the golf course, but say it's gotten out of hand.

Letow and Savage have reached out to Howard County, the golf course's owner, but it doesn't look like the county will be making anything happen.

Safety concerns

Letow can tell a story for each hole on the side of his house, as golf ball after golf ball has hit his home over the years.

Some have even broken through windows. One golf ball crashed in his living room while his daughter and her friend were sitting on the couch.

Fortunately, they didn't get hurt.

"If they were sitting [on this side of the couch], glass would have been all over them. [There] could've been some cuts," Letow said.

Letow and Savage say they both realized the issue when spring 2021 rolled around, a couple of months after they moved to their block of Sandy Ridge.

While their children haven't gotten hurt yet, they're worried it's an incident waiting to happen. Letow said he's been hit by a golf ball while mowing his backyard.

"The last thing we want is for one of them to get injured," Letow said.

Savage said her breaking point was when a window shattered right behind her son as he was eating breakfast.

"If there were some golf balls and we had to pluck them when we were cutting grass, it is what it is, right? We chose to live on a golf course, but it's not the inconvenience; it's not safe. Our kids can't play outside," she said.

Aside from damage to the side of their homes and windows, Letow and Savage showed WJZ damage to their patios.

No action

Both neighbors have reached out to Howard County over the years to try to mitigate the issue.

Letow had pitched putting a net up, as there already is one in another part of the neighborhood. There is also a net along Marshalee Drive to shield golf balls from hitting cars driving by.

Letow shared emails of those exchanges with Howard County with CBS News Baltimore, and while county officials were open to helping at first, ultimately, no action was taken.

In an email dated Jan. 20, 2026, Paul Thompson, Director of Constituent Services & Community Partnerships, said in part, "The decision was reached only after serious consideration of feasibility, broader implications, and long-term impacts."

CBS News Baltimore's request for comment to Howard County for this story went unanswered.

While the county has ruled out a net, Letow and Savage say they're open to other solutions. They just want to keep talking about this with the county.

"Whether it's moving the tee boxes, or turning this from a par four into a par three...whatever option the golf course and the county wanna figure out, I'm all open to it," Letow said.