VERO BEACH, FL. State inspectors walked into Big Shots Golf on US Highway 1 on May 18, 2026, and found the entertainment venue operating without an approved potable water supply, a violation that puts every glass of water, every ice cube, and every dish rinsed in that kitchen at risk of contamination from E. coli, Cryptosporidium, Giardia, or Legionella.
That was one of eight high-severity violations documented during the visit. The facility was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The inspection report also cited employees for not reporting symptoms of illness and the facility for having no written employee health policy. Those two violations travel together: without a policy requiring workers to disclose when they are sick, and without workers actually reporting symptoms, there is no mechanism to pull an ill employee off the line before they contaminate food.
Inspectors further documented improper handwashing technique, food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, toxic substances improperly stored or used, and food described as being in poor condition or adulterated. A missing consumer advisory for raw or undercooked menu items rounded out the eight high-severity findings.
Three intermediate violations accompanied the high-severity citations: multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, single-use items being reused, and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
The absence of an approved potable water supply is not a paperwork problem. Non-potable water used in a food establishment can carry E. coli, Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and Legionella, pathogens that cause illness ranging from severe gastrointestinal distress to pneumonia. Any food washed, any surface rinsed, any drink mixed with that water becomes a potential vehicle.
The illness-reporting failures compound the water issue. Food workers who do not report symptoms are the leading cause of multi-victim outbreaks, according to federal food safety data. Norovirus, the most common culprit in such outbreaks, spreads through as few as 18 viral particles. A sick employee touching improperly sanitized food contact surfaces, in a kitchen where handwashing technique is also flagged as deficient, creates a direct transmission chain from worker to customer.
The improperly cleaned multi-use utensils add another layer. Bacterial biofilms form on inadequately cleaned surfaces within 24 hours and resist standard sanitizing steps. Combined with the reuse of single-use items, the inspection record at Big Shots Golf on May 18 describes a kitchen where multiple contamination pathways were operating simultaneously.
The consumer advisory violation matters most to customers who are elderly, pregnant, immunocompromised, or very young. Without a menu notice about raw or undercooked items, those customers cannot make an informed choice about the risk they are accepting.
The Pattern
The May 2026 inspection was not an anomaly.
State records show Big Shots Golf has accumulated 122 violations across 20 inspections on record. In the eight most recent inspections documented before May 2026, the facility was cited for high-severity violations every single time.
The November 2025 inspection produced four high-severity violations and one intermediate. The June 2025 inspection produced six high-severity violations. The December 2024 inspection produced seven high-severity violations. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
Three inspections in January 2024 alone, on the 11th, 18th, and 25th, produced a combined 11 high-severity violations and two intermediate violations. The January 11 visit alone found seven high-severity violations, matching the December 2024 total and nearly matching the May 2026 count.
The Longer Record
Twenty inspections and 122 total violations across the facility's record place Big Shots Golf in a category that goes beyond occasional compliance lapses. The average works out to more than six violations per inspection visit.
The July 2023 inspection found five high-severity violations and two intermediate violations, meaning the pattern of high-severity findings stretches back at least three years in the available record. The violations have not clustered in one category. Hand hygiene, food contact surface sanitation, illness reporting, and food condition issues have appeared across multiple inspection cycles.
A facility with no prior emergency closures and this volume of recurring high-severity violations raises a direct question: at what threshold does the inspection record become sufficient grounds for closure.
On May 18, 2026, with eight high-severity violations including no approved potable water supply and employees not reporting illness symptoms, the answer at Big Shots Golf in Vero Beach was: not yet.