Category Archives: Cove View Golf Cours

Rocky Mountain Power, I have a question for you: Was this pole installation authorized by RMP? In my opinion, RMP is liable for Damages to my Home and Property

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(Click on image above to see identifying marks up close.)

What was Rocky Mountain Power’s (RMP) role in the installation of the poles along the 11th fairway at Cove View Golf Course, which borders my Richfield property?

Mayor Bryan Burrows should know. He works for RMP as a lineman. 

Were these RMP poles? I’d like to know the origin of the polls. I watched RMP equipment and employees do the work of putting them in. (See pole photos at top and in other posts on this site.) I watched Mayor Burrows on location overseeing the poles being installed and doing hands-on work in manipulating and positioning the poles. I took photos and videos. 

  • What do all the markings mean on them? Can anyone help me with identifying what those markings are?
  • In my opinion, Rocky Mountain Power is liable. It was their equipment and their employees that did an inadequate job, and my house and property continues to this day to sustain damage. 

Bottom line is, Rocky Mountain Power looks like they were very involved. And the remediation was a failure.

  • RMP equipment
  • RMP employees
  • Damage to my house and property continues

Golf balls! It’s raining golf balls!

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There is no end to it. Cloudy, sunny, windy, calm. If it’s golfing weather, that means golf balls will be raining down on my house, property, and hapless guests who come to visit me. Not even pets are safe. 

I own a home along the 11th fairway of the Cove View Golf Course in Richfield, Utah. I’ve been living there for eight years. It’s a beautiful spot (see photo below from my yard looking across the 11th fairway and up into the mountains).

But it’s not as idyllic as it may look. I’ve been in a constant battle with both the course and the city since I bought the place over being barraged on a daily basis by golf balls.

View from my backyard of the 11th fairway at Cove View Golf Course, Richfield, Utah. A beautiful spot if there wasn’t continual bombardment by golf balls.

I’m on the right side of the fairway, about 150 yards up from the tee box. Apparently that’s a perfect landing spot for sliced balls.

The golf balls started raining down. And didn’t stop. It almost never stops — only if the weather is too inclement for golfers to be out, or it’s dark. 

My garage doors — and they are not standard-sized garage doors, they’re enormous, and big enough to accommodate a tractor trailer — have been destroyed and need to be replaced. That, however, won’t solve the underlying problem. That would be like treating someone suffering a compound fracture with a band-aid. It’s not going to get better. You’re not addressing the root cause of the problem. 

So here we are. Eight years after I bought the house, eight years of being literally hammered with golf balls, and the problem still persists. When I initially bought the home, golfer traffic at the course was relatively low. An occasional golf ball would be the problem. However, in about 2020, things picked up on the course. The number of golfers grew; the errant golf balls got more intense. 

Nothing the golf course or the city is doing or has done has resolved this problem. They’ve placed nets up; they’re not high enough. They moved the tee box on the 11th up, shortening the hole from a par 5 to a par 3; my other neighbors started to complain, so they moved the tee box back to it’s original spot. The logic for doing that? “Well, Steve’s gonna sue us anyway, so …”

Mayor Brian Burrows’ interaction with relevant parties: What is GRAMA?

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In Utah, GRAMA refers to the Government Records Access and Management Act, a state law that grants the public the right to access government records while also allowing for the restriction of certain information to protect privacy or public policy interests. 

People can submit a GRAMA request to any Utah government entity to obtain public records, though certain records classified as “private,” “protected,” or “controlled” may not be released without a specific exception or court order.

GRAMA is essentially Utah’s open records law, which is analogous to the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

There were some doozies in the documents that were released, including a couple emails that went back and forth, which I can sum up this way: 

Perfect. Just how decisions should be made, don’t you think? (Huge amount of sarcasm there … )

Overview: Cove View Golf Course and the “Leadership” of the City of Richfield

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My visitor’s damaged car windshield.

I need to provide context for this website, and explain why I’ve been pushed into taking action, both in launching this website, and launching legal action in trying to get this resolved. 

I live near the intersection of 1600 W and Cove View Rd., tight along the right side of the par-5, 11th hole fairway of Cove View Golf Course. When I bought the house 8 years ago, errant golf balls were not as big of a problem as they are now. Had I known that would become a problem, I never would have bought the house. I’m not a golfer and know nothing about golf etiquette. The house suited my needs as far as solid construction and garage space.

I have been subjected to the constant barrage of golf balls pelting me (yes I’ve been hit by errant balls while at home), my house, my cars, my property, and my guests. 

Cars have been damaged, my ATVs have been damaged, my house has been hit numerous times and my garage doors bear the marks of many dings from golf balls striking them over the years. 

I thought this home would be a place of respite. It is anything but that. I don’t even like inviting guests over for fear of their vehicles being damaged from balls that are sliced into my driveway. 

The totally inappropriate text my guest — whose windshield was smashed — received from a man named Gary Graham, the guy who hit a golf ball into it. (Edited to downplay the cursing language.)

One recent guest, who many in town know well, had his windshield smashed and then had to suffer the indignity of the person who did it cursing at him in texts about getting his windshield replaced. 

It’s got to stop. My close friends and family don’t even like coming to my house because of the fear of flying golf balls. One close friend said recently, “It’s nerve-wracking and not even restful there anymore. You can hear golf balls hitting the house all day long.” 

Not only that, but the drunken, belligerent golfers seem to think they’re entitled to give me a piece of their minds when a sliced golf ball lands in my yard and they come looking for it. It can get ugly. 

So this is it. I’ve tried to work with the city’s leadership, including current Richfield Mayor Bryan Burrows; the course’s PGA pro, Todd Mullen; and various other officials and representatives for years, and nothing has worked. 

This isn’t the first time that a golf course (and the PGA) has been sued to recover damages from this sort of thing, and unfortunately, it won’t be the last. 

But they’re going to hear from me now. And I’m not going to give up until I have my property secured and my peace of mind set at ease. 

Attorney’s letter sums things up nicely

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In a letter to Richfield City Mayor Bryan Burrows, Richfield City Admin/Recorder Michele Jolley, and PGA golf pro at Cove View Golf Course Todd Mullen, an attorney representing me has laid out the eight-year-long struggle I’ve been having with trying to solve the ongoing problem of me, my house, and property being pelted with golf balls on a regular basis. 

Did Mayor Burrows, who works for Rocky Mountain Power, pay for this pole installation or did he just borrow the equipment? I want to see receipts.

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The view from my house: Pole installation underway along the right side of the 11th hole fairway at Cove View Golf Course.

Four years ago, on Election Day 2021, Bryan Burrows was elected over his opponent, Angie Stubbs, by a vote of 1,134 to 958. Not exactly a mandate in Richfield. A difference of 176 votes. A pretty slim margin, even for Richfield.

Now the incumbent Mayor Burrows is up against Tyson Hansen, former Finance Director for the City of Richfield. I’m not here to endorse Mr. Hansen. But I was told he knows his way around the city. Knows the movers and shakers of Richfield, and has a much more vast depth of knowledge appropriate for someone who would be heading up the administration of Richfield.

As you’ve noted in your bio, Mayor Burrows, before becoming Mayor of Richfield, you worked for Rocky Mountain Power for 44 years, first as a journeyman lineman and then as a line foreman.

I’m curious — Rocky Mountain Power — weren’t they the ones who got the contract to install the poles for the net along the now-infamous Cove View Golf Course 11th tee box and right side of the fairway? Isn’t that their truck shown in the photograph above parked along the 11th hole fairway getting ready to set the pole?

If you blow up the image above, you’ll just barely be able to make out the Rocky Mountain Power logo on the door of the truck.

Was there a contract drawn up for Rocky Mountain Power’s pole installation? Was there a competitive bid for the project? Did you profit from using Rocky Mountain Power to do the installation for the city of Richfield / Cove View Golf Course? I’d love to see the numbers and the contracts for this project. Especially since it has been completely ineffective in stopping the barrage of balls from hitting my property.

Questions about pole setting with the use of Rocky Mountain Power’s equipment … how was RMP reimbursed for the use of their equipment?

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I have questions:

1) Where’s the contract, receipts, itemized line items and checks paid for purchasing of the poles and their installation? 2) How much did the trucks cost that were used to install the poles, and who got the contract — or got paid — for that? 3) What about the labor for the installation of the poles? 4) Was Rocky Mountain Power aware that their equipment was being used for this installation?

Click the play button to watch above video.

This post is addressed to Lineman Burrows — the Bryan Burrows, currently Richfield Mayor, who proudly lists “lineman” in his bio, who once did work that included things like install equipment ranging from utility poles to power lines to crossarms, insulators, switches and switchgear; equipment testing, including conductors, switches, voltage regulators and transformers. You climbed poles and transmission towers and dug holes and set poles using construction equipment. 

So I’m thinking, I’d love to see the financials for the work done on the pole-setting — not the netting, just interested in the pole-setting — along the 11th fairway at Cove View Golf Course. I’m talking about receipts and  copies of cashed checks for the work. It would be interesting to see where Richfield’s money went when it came to erecting the poles and netting along the 11th fairway. 

I’d like to see line item, itemized receipts and checks for all money spent to procure and install those poles. Where did the money go? Who profited for that kind of work? I’m just asking questions here that any Richfield citizen paying property taxes might ask in trying to find answers and satisfy a curiosity as to how public Richfield money was spent on this project.

You have a special expertise that you bring to your current role as Mayor of Richfield (soon to change come Nov. 4, 2025 I hope). 

Yet, all through your tenure as mayor — from January 2021 to now, as we approach Election Day 2025 — a man who worked as a former lineman, could not put a solution in place. If there ever was a sweet spot between mayor, lineman, golf course, damage from golf balls, poles and netting, this would be it. 

Golf balls — I’ve got golf balls by the hundreds

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Golf balls. I’ve got golf balls by the hundreds. The photos you see above and below are just a sample of the golf balls I’ve collected that have landed on my property along the 11th fairway of the Cove View Golf Course.

The pounding my property takes is unrelenting. The proof not only is in the damage to my house, my garage doors, my vehicles, my visitors’ vehicles, but also in the drawers of my tool boxes. Just take a look at the photos above. What you see is only about 9-12 months’ worth. 

For the kids …

The two small clear plastic containers of white balls you see above are ones I have on hand to give away to young child golfers who go by when I’m outside and see them. I’ve already given away several tubs of golf balls. 

I collect more on a daily basis. 

It’s got to stop. 

Living adjacent to the Cove View Golf Course in Richfield comes at a cost — I paid for half of the cost of the initial netting …

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Failed & torn netting along the 11th fairway at Cove View Golf Course next to my house.

When I initially bought my home, along the 11th fairway of the Cove View Golf Course in Richfield, Utah, the golf course player traffic on its fairways was relatively low. 

An occasional errantly hit golf ball would be more of a nuisance, not the kind of  problem it’s evolved to be. 

Then, about five years ago, in about 2020, activity picked up on the course; the errant golf balls got more intense; they grew from a nuisance to a steady barrage.

At that time, the Richfield Mayor was Dave Ogden. He was an absolutely wonderful man to deal with. He was resolution-oriented, unlike current Mayor Bryan Burrows, who seems to have an arrogant attitude towards outsiders — such as me, a “Move-In” as they sometimes refer to me.

Mayor Ogden was so kind and wanted to be so helpful, that I agreed to pay for half of the cost of the initial net installation to try to help protect me and my property. 

We got them installed, but by 2021, those nets were destroyed. (See photo above)

Porch pirate pilfering golf balls from my porch, 7-18-2021.

In addition, the behavior of the people on the golf course got increasingly worse. As you also will see from the two pictures above, people became bold and brazen in their conduct. I’ve said I’m no golfer and I don’t know much about golf etiquette, but I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t include stealing golf balls that were sitting on a resident’s porch. Yes, as I’ve documented from these  photos taken on July 18, 2021 (at right, and below), it became so bad that people were coming onto my front porch to steal golf balls I had collected that were sitting on my outdoor furniture. These weren’t treats that I was setting out for Halloween trick or treaters. 

It looks like an adult sent this young boy to be the thief that day. 

Porch pirate: getting away with the goods.

When Mayor Burrows took over, he haphazardly listened to me and put up poles and nets that were too short and not wide enough. After several text exchanges with him and Cove View Golf Course PGA pro Todd Mullen, it was clear to me that my words were falling on deaf ears. It was more important to Richfield Mayor Burrows to take care of the people who lived and could vote there, rather than the “Move-Ins” like myself who were part-time residents. 

Mr. Mullen and Mayor Burrows clearly made their decisions to cater to voters as seen in this letter below, written by Michele Jolley:

It’s amazing that Mr. Mullen, is not only a PGA pro, but also an expert in legalities. He made the decision after my neighbors complained that he should restore the 11th tee to its original location, because, as the letter states, I would be suing them anyway. 

Unthoughtful assumptions by unthoughtful people. Again, catering to locals and voters. 

As I have now learned, Mr. Mullen is moving on to work in the church full time. I say good riddance.