Rossmoor, a 55-and-over community in Walnut Creek, Calif., installed “EMT Access” signs at 10 access points on the Creekside and Dollar Ranch courses. Local fire departments and police have copies of course maps and the access points noted.

Golf doesn’t seem like a dangerous sport, but don’t tell that to players who have suffered heat stroke, fainted, or even been hit in the head with balls on the course, the Rossmoor News reported.

And getting help quickly can be tough, said Mark Heptig, Director of Golf Courses at Rossmoor, a 55-and-over community in Walnut Creek, Calif. It can be a serious problem for emergency help, especially ambulances or other vehicles, to find injured people if they don’t know their way around the fairways—or even how to access the course, the News reported.

“Most EMTs have no idea where the third hole is on either Rossmoor course,” Heptig said.

But new signage on and around Rossmoor’s two golf courses will make it much easier for help to arrive, as they are stationed at key access points around the greens, the News reported. Heptig and Securitas, Rossmoor’s contracted security agency, had the signs installed about two weeks ago. There are 10 access points on the Creekside and Dollar Ranch courses—two at Creekside, seven at Dollar and one that is stationed between the courses.

What is unique about this type of program, Heptig told the News, is that Rossmoor is the only one in the area using the signage to assist in emergencies on sprawling courses. Some other courses, like Diablo Creek Golf Course in Concord, are built almost square-like, so it is easier for emergency personnel to reach injured players, if necessary. But others aren’t, and Rossmoor’s three-mile Dollar Course can be difficult to navigate.

“We’ve been working on this for a while,” Heptig said, showing off a map of the courses and the access points. “Our main objective has been to serve residents and their guests as best as we can as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

He said local fire departments and police have copies of the maps with the courses and the access points noted, the News reported.

Steve Roath, a former GRF Board member and avid golfer, is strongly in favor of the signs and the emergency access points, the News reported.

“Sometimes it can get confusing between Securitas, the Golf Pro Shop and an ambulance driver trying to describe a specific location of an emergency,” he said after an early morning round on the Creekside Course.

He also pointed out that every Rossmoor golf cart carries a sticker on the steering wheel that instructs golfers to call 911 in an emergency, Securitas at 925-939-0693, and the Golf Pro Shop at 925-988-7861, the News reported.

Certainly, the new signage at access points won’t curb golf-related injuries, but, Heptig told the News, “they will make it easier to take care of our population. And that’s what’s important to us.”