Remembering Edwin Payne, golfer who died in fall off cliff

Here are more details about the terrible accident that claimed the life of Edwin Payne, who died when his golf cart went over a 75 foot cliff at a golf course in California.

Clara, the thoughts and prayers of every golfer are with you and your family. We are sorry for your loss.

From the article:

“Payne had just teed off from the second hole on the facility’s southern 18-hole course, but he lost his first ball, which went off into the brush, Kerns said. He was unable to locate the ball, so he hit another one and was headed toward his friends who were ahead of him, he said.

His friends told officers that Payne got back into the electric golf cart that was parked on the grass and went to get on a concrete path, Kern said.

“As his golf cart traveled off the lawn area and onto the concrete cart path in a southerly direction, the golf cart began to bounce around. It appeared that he lost control of the cart as it veered over the east curb of the cart path and down an embankment where it eventually went off a sheer cliff,” Kerns said.

The cart jumped the concrete path’s 6-inch curb and first went 30 feet down a slope with brush and trees, then over the cliff, the officer said.

The two-seat golf cart overturned near the bottom of the cliff. The impact crushed the vehicle, ripped off the roof and tore a seat off, he said. Payne was thrown into the southbound lane of Old Highway 395, Kerns said.

The Highway Patrol closed the road for about a quarter-mile in each direction until about 12:30 p.m. for the investigation, he said. The golf course and the entrance to the resort remained open.

Authorities are investigating what caused Payne to drive off the cliff. The crash happened so quickly that his friends did not know why he drove off the path, Kerns said. It was also unclear how fast he was going in the cart, which has a top speed of 12 mph, he said.

Golfers at the Pala Mesa Resort at lunchtime said it was hard to imagine how the golf cart could make it over the concrete path’s 6-inch curb and through the brush between the course and the highway without stopping.”