It isn’t uncommon for country clubs to dole out impressive prizes for golfers that are able to achieve the rare and desirable hole-in-one, mostly because, well, it isn’t an easy thing to do. Sometimes, these prizes include new vehicles, giving golfers something truly enticing to shoot for, quite literally. This was also the case when the Morrilton Country Club in Morrilton, Arkansas hosted what it calls “The Tournament of the Century” earlier this month, as it promised to give away a brand new 2022 Ford F-150 to the first person that hit a hole-in-one on hole number 10. But when someone actually did, the lucky golfer quickly discovered that he wasn’t getting a new truck after all, according to The Kansas City Star.
That man – Austin Clagett – was so excited that he posed in front of the 2022 Ford F-150 for a photo, but when he went to collect his prize, he was shocked to learn that the dealership who provided the pickup for the event – Jay Hodge Ford – wasn’t handing over the keys, after all. Instead, the dealership released a statement via Facebook claiming that the truck was only present for display and advertising purposes.
The dealer also noted that it couldn’t possibly give the truck away as it didn’t have enough lead time before the event to provide insurance for the vehicle. Ultimately, the dealer claims that the country club went ahead and advertised that the F-150 was indeed a prize for anyone that hit a hole-in-one, even after learning that the dealer couldn’t give it away.
As one might imagine, Clagett didn’t accept this excuse, and is instead pursuing legal action against both the Morrilton Country Club and Jay Hodge Ford, filing a lawsuit for breach of contract. “This is about doing what is right,” Andrew Norwood of Denton & Zachary, PLLC, said in a statement. “Mr. Clagett lived up to his end of the deal when he got the hole-in-one and now Morrilton Country Club and Jay Hodge Ford of Morrilton want to crawfish out of the deal. If they didn’t want to pay up when Mr. Clagett got a hole-in-one, they shouldn’t have offered the deal.”
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Comments
So the dealer was aware the truck was being offered as a prize but only had an “issue” when someone came to claim it? Sounds about right… also sounds like dude is gonna get a new truck and a country club membership
Ford… we have been life long supporters and buyers and we have always appreciated your support to our military breast cancer awareness and college scholarship programs!
However it is most unfortunate that Ford is associated with the Jay Hodge Dealership company…
I can’t believe they got rid of their service manager he has been their nearly 40 years and he was in my opinion the best! He was fair kind and worked with the customer to make sure they was happy and he was a friend!
He had broken a hip and had surgery a few years back and walked with a cane I strongly believe he was gotten rid of because of that and so do a lot of the customers I’ve spoken with, which states very loudly the respect they show their employees and especially those who are older veterans is nonexistent! I will not purchase any vehicle from this dealership and am considering not purchasing from Ford if they continue to support such activities!
Now they have reneged on a prize for a hole in one golf tournament that could have been an avoidable incident. Now it is a world wide controversy!
We are very disappointed in this dealership and how they disrespectfully treat their customers employees and community and I hope Ford the company the name will step up and do the right thing! It has already hurt the business I hope it doesn’t hurt the name of Ford!
Why don’t all the supporters of the fired service manager do a crowdfunding to raise the legal expenses for him to launch a discrimination suit against the dealer? Of if not that just a thank you for all the good years of service you gave to us customers gift?
That “Hole in One” reneg is so outrageous! As a manager at a few dealerships in my 40 years at that level, I can only say, nonsense to all the excuses by the country club and dealership. Both are equally at fault. The dealership management should have never delivered the F150 to the country club without first having the insurance in place. The country club managment should not have offered the F150, then displayed the prize without proof of the insurance
document.
I truly hope the golfer gets his F150, and the guilty parties, aka, dealer and club, satisfy the legal fees that the winner is now encountering to obtain what is rightfully his.
The upside? When he gets his F150, he’ll have one heck-of-a golf story to tell forever more!
If the dealer really did inform the club they can’t provide the truck because they couldn’t get insurance for the event then it’s not on the dealer. However if the club continued to advertise the award I have a hard time believing they didn’t notice it and reach out saying “hey y’all keep advertising this giveaway and we aren’t giving anything away on our end”
Pretty sure the Insurance they’re speaking of is not on the truck, it would be covered under the dealers General Liability and Property Damages policies until the title was transferred to a retail or other new owner. Rather there are special event insurance policies that cover the expense of awarding a prize if the requirements of the event are fulfilled, in this case a Hole in One. Typically the sponsor of the event obtains the policy for the date in question. Dependent on who was sponsoring the event, the club or the dealer, would determine who should have procured the policy. Additional information and facts are needed to determine who was responsible for obtaining the event insurance.
Bingo! One party decided to save money ‘betting’ there would be no hole in one on hole number Ten that day.
That party saved a little by self-insuring, and is now going to have to pay for a truck.
Dealer would be ahead of the game to go ahead and give the truck to the winner.
I really do not see any way the golfer does not get the Truck. It is even more interesting that the Club and the Dealership do not seem to see the lunacy in even fighting this. Their loss of Goodwill, in the Community, is lost and gets worse as long as this controversy continues.
What on Earth would the insurance have to do with the giveaway? Absolutely nothing. They’re either is a truck or there isn’t a truck and insurance has no factor in this.