A study by a consulting group put the clubhouse in the “errant ball zone,” prompting the  $1 million project, which will also install new nets at the driving range. A group of neighbors have filed suit to stop the project, claiming that the work is part of a broader plan to replace the clubhouse, which they claim will add more noise, light and traffic to the neighborhood.

The town of Vail, Colo., which owns Vail (Colo.) Golf Club, is starting work on a project to relocate the 18th green and install new nets at the driving range, resulting in what it hopes will be a safer course, the Vail (Colo.) Daily News reported.

The cost for the project will be more than $1 million, with less than half being spent on relocating the 18th green. Most of the money will go toward building new nets, some as tall as 130 feet, on the south side of the driving range. The current nets top out at 80 feet, the News reported.

While many golfers have first-hand experience with “errant balls” in the area, the safety issue was brought into focus last year because of a study by the Tanner Consulting Group. That study was done as part of creating a new master plan for the golf course. The study put the clubhouse—both the existing structure and a proposed new structure—in the “errant ball zone” from the driving range, the News reported.

The study put the town “on notice” about potential liability from golf balls, said Greg Hall, Vail Public Works director. That notice, and subsequent conversations with the town’s insurance company, made the 18th hole project more of a priority, the News reported.

A group of course neighbors filed suit to stop the project, claiming that work on the 18th hole and driving range was part of a broader plan to replace the clubhouse. The clubhouse plan is also being fought by neighbors, who claim the project as currently proposed will bring more noise, light and traffic to the neighborhood, the News reported.

While the clubhouse suit is still being litigated, Senior District Judge Frank Plaut last month denied the neighbors’ request for an injunction to stop the 18th hole and driving range work. In his ruling, Plaut wrote that the current project is necessary to improve safety at the course, the News reported.

Before the Town Council voted to award the contract for the 18th green work, Ken Wilson, president of the Vail Recreation District board of directors, and other district board members asked the council to wait on the work, claiming the project will cost the district revenue over two golf seasons, the News reported.

The course this year finished an alternate “19th” hole that players can finish their rounds with. But, Wilson said, that replacement hole isn’t a great finish to the course, which, depending on weather, could be open until late October, the News reported.

“A par-69 course isn’t going to be on the top of anyone’s list,” Wilson said.

While the contract for work on the green calls for the course to be playable by late June 2014, Wilson said that timetable will require “perfect” weather. Sod for the 19th hole was laid in June and has just become playable in the past few weeks, Wilson said.

However, that part of the course will be safer in the long run, Wilson said. “I know people who have been hit by balls out there,” he said. “That was not an imagined issue.”