NEWARK — James Corino needed multiple procedures to restore vision to his right eye after he was struck by an errant mulligan as he prepared to hit a shot from the 15th fairway at Sparta's Skyview Golf Course two years ago.

The trouble was, in a clear violation of golfing rules and etiquette, no one bothered to yell “fore,” Corino claims.

The ball struck by Kyle Duffy sliced off the neighboring 16th tee, shattering Corino’s sunglasses, the broken shards of glass cutting his eye, Corino also claims.

But, in a decision announced today, an Essex County judge said that while Duffy may have an obligation to yell “fore,” his golfing buddies did not.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Vena sided with lawyers for Duffy’s golf partners, Bryan Chovanec and Thomas Schweizer, and agreed to drop them as defendants in the civil lawsuit Corino filed last year in Newark.

“Plaintiff (Corino) has failed to provide any evidence to demonstrate that Mr. Chovanec and Mr. Schweizer were obligated to yell fore or otherwise warn Mr. Corino of Mr. Duffy’s errant shot,” the judge wrote. “That duty, according to the Rules, belonged solely to the acting player, Mr. Duffy.”

Corino, 65, thought he was in the clear when he prepared to hit his third shot from the 15th fairway on Aug. 23, 2011.

The 15th fairway at Skyview is parallel to the 16th but they run in opposite directions, leaving golfers on the 15th vulnerable to slices off the 16th.

Corino, an educator, and his brother Carl, his partner that day, waited as the threesome of Chovanec, Schweizer and Duffy each hit their balls off the 16th tee. Once they finished – Duffy was last -- Corino put his ball down.

What Corino says he didn’t know was that Duffy took a provisional shot – also known as a mulligan, a courtesy do-over recreational golfers can give one another after a shot goes awry, perhaps landing in a lake or surrounding woods.

“Mr. Duffy sliced his ball over the sparse tree barrier separating the 15th and 16th fairways, and the golf ball struck Mr. Corino in his right eye,” Vena wrote. “Mr. Corino claims that he did not hear anyone yell ‘fore’ or provide any other warning prior to the ball striking him.”

He sued the threesome in Essex County Superior Court in 2012, claiming they were reckless, violated the Rules of Golf by permitting Duffy to take his mulligan and failed to call “fore.”

Earlier state appeals court decisions have established a golfer’s liability when he or she takes a mulligan.

In a 2002 case , the New Jersey Supreme Court found that a golfer’s decision to take a mulligan while another golfer was standing in the middle of the fairway or “in the line of fire” could be considered reckless conduct.

The difference in Carlino’s case, Vena ruled, is that neither Schweizer nor Chovanec struck the errant shot.

“In the matter presently before this court, it is undisputed that Mr. Duffy hit the ball that struck and injured Mr. Corino,” the judge wrote. “Thus, the actor in this case is Mr. Duffy and any assessment of his co-defendants’ respective mental states is irrelevant.”

Corino’s lawyers said the decision to let Duffy take a mulligan was shared by all three golfers – an argument that failed to persuade Vena.

“Plaintiff (Corino) has failed to cite any legal authority to support the contention that the reckless conduct of one player is attributable to all members of his party,” Vena wrote. “Even if Mr. Chovanec and Mr. Schweizer agreed to allow Mr. Duffy to take a second tee shot, it is the state of mind and conduct of the actor that is essential to a finding of recklessness.”

Neither Duffy, nor his lawyers, could be reached for comment.

Corino’s attorney, Daniel Hoberman, said he remains convinced that the three men shared in the decision that led to Duffy's errant tee shot. "I think it was a decision the three of them made that Mr. Duffy would take the provisional shot," Hoberman said.

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