Like everything else in the Gulf Coast area, golf courses were affected by Hurricane Katrina. Today, courses in coastal and disaster-prone areas face increasing property premiums and deductibles, although coverage still seems available.

However, slip-and-fall claims remain the most prevalent loss on golf courses that are open to anyone, whether privately or publicly owned, according to Mary Keenan, underwriter-manager of The Philadelphia Companies. “You don't find these too many times in members-only clubs, because they don't want to sue their own clubs,” she said.

While any number of factors such as dewy grass or just plain carelessness can lead to such an incident, Ms. Keenan said it is not all that cut-and-dried as to who is liable. “It really varies by claims department at the various insurers,” she said. “Some people will say, 'I am denying it because there is nothing wrong with the course and nothing wrong with the golf cart.' And other people will pay it just to get rid of it.”

Meanwhile, errant golf balls can also be a problem, with claims paid under property as opposed to liability policies if only property was damaged, she noted. “Generally, with errant golf ball situations, if you see a lot of these situations it is usually due to poor design of the course,” according to Ms. Keenan.

Problems such as too many driving range balls going astray can generally be fixed by proper netting–but not always, Ms. Keenan warned. “Sometimes when the golf course was built, there were no homes over there, but now there are,” she said.

Too many errant golf ball claims will cause The Philadelphia Companies to not renew a policy. “I am going to look and see where it is coming from and can it be fixed. If it can't be fixed then I am not going to want to write the account,” Ms. Keenan said, “because you could get a bad injury and it could be a problem because it is obviously an issue with design.”

Rick Sigel, a Sacramento-based broker with Acordia, said it could depend on what state the golf ball accident took place in as to where liability will lay. With most of the new golf courses being built in conjunction with residential developments, those homes come with covenants describing the hazards of living on a golf course and “hold harmless” agreements. “But that does not hold true for the older facilities built before the late 1990s,” he said.

Golf carts remain another source of peril for both the golfer and the insurer, and once again liability is open to question. “If somebody just steps out of the cart and falls, well then, the course is not liable. But if the cart tips over after going down a steep hill, then that could be the fault of the course,” she said.

Mr. Sigel said the combination of alcohol at the 19th hole and golf carts can make for some interesting claims. “They are mostly alcohol-related,” he said. “The issues always are whether it is driver error, or a golf-cart malfunction, or a terrain issue such as whether they were on paths.”

However, Mr. Sigel noted that “99 percent of golf cart accidents are driver-error–they were just going too fast.”

Some courses and underwriters can make sure risk management steps are in place, such as course marshals and signage warning of potential golf course hazards and their financial consequences.

Premium size will depend on property value of the golf course along with the amount of play, Mr. Sigel said.

In terms of environmental coverage, reclaimed water issues are starting to surface in claims. “I've had some cases where people said just touching the ball with whatever chemicals were there caused skin rashes,” he noted.

The Philadelphia Companies' golf program offers a $1,500 property limit for errant golf balls, while other carriers treat it as a general liability claim and require that the golf course is at fault before a claim is paid.

About 15 carriers offer golf programs, and each with its own twist. “I would say most of the programs provide anywhere from $250,000 to $2 million of coverage for the golf course,” Ms. Keenan said.

Not only might a clubhouse or storage shed burn down, but a vandal driving his car over the green could cost up to $70,000 in damage.

The biggest single losses in golf course coverage come from fire, either in the clubhouse or where they store the golf carts. “They charge them overnight and if they don't have property ventilation, it explodes,” she said.

Market softening today has come from new players entering the niche. “It is a pretty profitable business,” Ms. Keenan noted. “You just have to know which ones to write and which ones not to write.”

The proliferation of new courses should theoretically be a boon to the golf insurance industry niche, “but you have to look at their financials to make sure they are not losing their shirts,” she said.

Those financials cannot be helped by overall golf industry revenues that have dropped 5 percent in the past year, according to Mr. Sigel.

Golf courses might not attract as many fee-paying daily customers as they used to, but they still sell homes, he added.