An Oregon woman who was hit in the head by a flying golf club at Topgolf and suffered a traumatic brain injury in June 2023 has been awarded millions of dollars.
The then-23-year-old woman settled with Topgolf after suing the company for an incident where someone’s golf club hit her in the head, causing a traumatic brain injury. Smith Foster King, the law firm representing the woman, announced the "multi-million-dollar" settlement on its website on Oct. 19.
The law firm said the woman, who asked to keep her identity and settlement amount hidden, filed the lawsuit in February 2025, initially seeking $40 million, plus punitive damages.
According to the law firm and court records reviewed by USA TODAY, Topgolf allegedly had the woman and other guests
too close to active hitting bays without proper barriers to prevent golf clubs and golf balls from hitting them. The plaintiff and her lawyers said in the lawsuit that Topgolf has signs warning of "errant golf balls or clubs"; therefore, the company knew customers were at risk.
Per the woman's complaint, she did not sign a liability waiver when she visited the location, nor was she asked to.
The firm said Topgolf denied the allegations and did not admit liability. The company did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s requests for comment on Thursday, Oct. 22.
Woman was hit and 'slumped' over into friend’s lap after club made contact
The woman went to Topgolf on June 24, 2023, in Hillsboro, about 15 miles northwest of downtown Portland, according to court documents.
She was sitting on a couch near her group’s bay talking to a friend when someone from a different group two bays away swung and released a golf club. That flying golf club hit her in the back of the head, the lawsuit reads.
Topgolf pulled surveillance footage showing a guest swinging the club, which somehow came out of the individual's hands and hit the plaintiff. The woman "slumped into her friend’s lap" and "blood poured from a large wound" on her head, according to the lawsuit.
An ambulance took her to the emergency room, where doctors put nine staples into her head to close the wound, the lawsuit reads. She got a CT scan and was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.
Per the lawsuit, the woman has since had a number of side effects, including headaches, vertigo, memory loss, mood swings, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, sleep issues and chronic pain.
According to the woman's complaint, she went to Topgolf that day to celebrate her new job as a teacher. However, since the golf club incident, she says she can no longer continue her teaching job. The 26-year-old woman now works as a housecleaner, per the lawsuit.
Previous lawsuit led to settlement of more than $15.7 million
According to her lawyers, this is the firm’s second successful lawsuit against Topgolf due to an incident at the Hillsboro location.
In a previous case, Smith Foster King represented a 9-year-old boy who suffered a skull fracture and traumatic brain injury in November 2021 after someone’s golf club hit him, Smith Foster King partner Anne Foster told USA TODAY on Oct. 22. The firm settled with Topgolf for an undisclosed amount.
A federal jury in Portland ruled in favor of the firm’s client and awarded him a multi-million-dollar payment, the firm said.
The law firm has another client, Crystal Robertson, 45, who on March 13 went to a Thornton, Colorado location. She allegedly suffered a traumatic brain injury after someone’s golf club hit her in the head. She had to get five staples above her left eye and the law firm is currently trying to get videos of the incident, Foster told USA TODAY.
"When the same injury keeps happening at the same company, under strikingly similar circumstances, it is not an isolated accident," Foster said in a statement.
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY’s trending team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Topgolf to pay woman millions after she was hit by flying golf club
