Diver drowns while retrieving sunken balls at Florida golf course pond, feds say

A 26-year-old diver on his third day on the job drowned in a Florida beach resort’s golf course pond while retrieving sunken balls, federal labor officials said.

An investigation into the December drowning at Ponte Vedra Inn & Club in Jacksonville revealed the diver’s employer did not follow several safety standards such as training workers for CPR and first aid, the U.S. Department of Labor said in a July 12 news release.

Now, Ballhawker of Florida Inc. is facing up to $55,870 in penalties proposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 12 serious violations following the dive technician’s death, according to the agency. At the time, the diver was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

“Ballhawker ignored safety standards and a young man lost his life,” OSHA acting area office director Erin Sanchez said in a statement.

McClatchy News contacted the company for comment on July 12 and was awaiting a response.

In December, after the 26-year-old dove into one of Ponte Vedra Inn & Club’s golf course ponds with a co-worker, he “became unresponsive,” according to the DOL.

He was pulled out of the pond by the co-worker who told a nearby golfer to call 911, the release said.

Afterward, St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office cars were seen arriving at the resort’s 6,022-yard Lagoon Course in response to the incident, Action News Jax reported.

Ballhawker is accused of exposing workers to “drowning hazards” because all dive team members did not undergo CPR or first-aid training under American Red Cross standards, according to citations against the company listed by OSHA.

The company’s 11 other violations include not providing a resuscitator at the beach resort during the dive and not using diver depth gauges, the news release said.

Ballhawker has 15 business days after receiving the citations to either pay the penalties, request a meeting with OSHA or contest the investigation’s findings.

This story was originally published July 12, 2022 at 12:58 PM with the headline "Diver drowns while retrieving sunken balls at Florida golf course pond, feds say."

Julia Marnin

McClatchy DC

Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.