M o ss i s d escri b ed as “any of a cl ass (M usci ) o f b ry o p hy t i c p l ant s havi ng a s m al l l eaf y oft en t uf

t ed s t em be ari ng 1

s ex org ans at i t s t i p; al s o: a cl ump or s war d of t hes e pl ant s
. ” W eb st er’s N i n t h N ew C o l l eg i a t e D i cti o n a ry 77 4 (19 9 1 ).

A l ga i s d esc ribe d a s “a ny o f a g ro up (A l ga e) o f

ch i efl y aq ua t i c n o nv asc ular p l an t s (as sea w ee d s, p o nd scum s, 2 and s t onewor t s ) wi t h c hl orophy l l of t en mas ked by a br own or r ed pi gment

. ” W eb st er’s N i n t h N ew C o l l eg i a t e D i cti o n a ry 6 9 (19 9 1 ). 

### IN THE COURT OF APP EALS OF TENNESS EE AT NAS HVILLE N ove m be r 15, 200 5 S es sio n
JE SSE W IL LI AMS, SR., ET AL 

### . v. LI NKSCORP TE NNESSEE SIX, L.L .C.,

d/ b/ a NASH BORO GOL F CLUB

Direc t Appeal from the Circ uit Court for Davidson County No. 01C-3635 Ham ilton V. Gayden, Jr., Judge

No. M2004- 02603-COA-R 3-CV - F iled on Ju ly 28, 2006

D AVI D R. F ARMER , J

. , d i s s en t i n g.
I respe ctfully

dissent from the majority . As stated in the majority opinion, i n o rder for an owner or oper ator of pr emises to be held liable for neg lige nce in allowing a dang erous or

defe ctive condition to e x ist on the premises, the plaintiff must prove , in a ddition to t he ele ments of neg lige nce, that the conditi on was caused or cre ated by the owner or, i f t he condition was created by someone other than the owner , that the owner had actual or constructive notice t hat t he condition exist ed prior to t h e ac ci d ent. Bl air

v . W e st To wn M

all , 130 S.W .3d 761, 764 (Tenn. 2004) . It is alleg ed in the Plaintiffs’ complaint that Mr. Will iams was walking down a set of st eps on t he g olf coursethat wer e ma de of railr oa d c ro sstie s a ndthat hefe ll d ue to th e sli pp e ry su rf a c e of theste p. Mr . Wil liams te sti fi e d in his de po sit ion that he ev ide ntl y hit so me mud a ndmos s on thestair s, wh ic h c aus e d h im 1 to fall. He testified that it was “raining r eal, r eal ha rd at that time.” H oweve r, Mr. Willi ams rec anted this testim ony in a subsequent aff idavit w here in he stated, “it may have been sprinkling, but it was not raining hard.” I n response to the Def endant’ s motion for summary judgme nt, the Plaintiffs filed aff idavits of Arthur Ove rall and L arry Rees, both o f wh o m wer e g olfing with Mr. Wil liams. Mr. Ov e rall s tate d th a t
it had been r aining heavily early that morning , but at the time we we re play ing g olf, the rewa s a

lig ht dri zzle if rai ning a t a ll. As weapp ro a c he d th e 8 ho le , Jes se th Wil liams, Sr., was walking down the steps wh en h e s lipped and fe ll. As I walked over to he lp J esse W illiams, Sr., I observe d that there was Alga e and water a ll over 2 the steps and that they

wer e made of railroad t i es an d wer e very uneven and worn. T h e s t e p s w e r e v e ry s l i p p e ry.M i l d ew i s d escri b ed as a superf i ci al us u. whi t i sh grow t h p rod uced o n o rgani c m at t er o r l i vi ng p l ant s b y f ungi 3 ( as of t he f ami l i es E r y s i phace ae and Peronos po r ace ae)

. ” W eb st er’s N i n t h N ew C o l l eg i a t e D i cti o n a ry 75 3 (19 9 1 ).
-2- Mr . Re e s a ff

idavit c on ta ine d th e ide nti c a l lang ua g e qu ote d fr om Mr

. Ov e rall’ s a ff idavit

. I n r e sp on se to interrog atories submitted by the Def endant, Mr. Wil liams state s “I was walking down the steps at the g olf course , and slipped on we t and mildew steps.” 3

The a ffidavit of Sean Wells rec ites that he is the head g olf profe ssional and assistant g ener al
ma na g e r f or Na sh bo ro Go lf

Clu b. Th e stair s ma de of railr oa d ti e s w e repla c e d n e ar the 8 g re e n in th the mid 1980s. Nashboro wa s not awar e that ther e was alleg ed mud, moss or alg ae w hich caused the steps i n question to be slippery on the date of

Mr. Will iams’ ac cident. The majority states

“ [g ]ive n th e sli pp e ry

natur e of su c h mo ss and the time required for it to grow , this evidence tends to show that the moss on the steps constituted a dangerous condition, and that the c onditions of the stairs was ‘ a g ener al or c ontinuing condition.’” (Emphasis adde d.) Having revie wed this rec ord, I do not find that the Plaintiffs have e st ab l i s h ed that the Def endant ha d either a ctual or c onstructive notice of a dang erous and defe ctive condition. Ifind nothing in the rec ord to support the majority ’s conclusion with respe ct to the leng th of time require d for the g rowth of moss, alg ae or mildew. I do not f eel that this is a matter of which this Court can take judicial notice . There fore , I would aff

irm the trial court’s g rant of summary judgme nt in favor of theDe fe nd a nt.

___________________________________ DAVID R. FARMER, J UDGE