Are We At Crisis Point With Golf Club Vandalism?

For a golfer, there are few sights as upsetting and depressing as a green that’s been shredded by a motorbike or ruined by a chemical or fuel spillage. Unfortunately, it’s been a reasonably common occurrence at UK golf courses recently.

Last month, Caird Park in Dundee was targeted by youths on motorcycles. They rode over the course and damaged five greens to the point where they are currently unplayable. The 17th green is unlikely to be playable for the rest of the year. Caird Park was saved from closure just three months ago and the damage is a serious blow to the municipal facility.

At the other end of the country, in Bournemouth , two courses were attacked by vandals in April: The Club at Meyrick Park and Knighton Heath Golf Club .

At The Club at Meyrick Park, youths rode motorbikes and electric bikes across the course and there was similar damage at Knighton Heath. Troublingly, at the latter, a swastika was carved into one of the bunkers.

"This course is my baby,” Meyrick Park course manager Mo Bah told the Bournemouth Echo. “I’ve been here almost nine years now and this is the worst I have seen it. This is the start of the golfing season, we had the course ready to welcome visitors on April 1, but now because of this, we’ve had to delay that."

At Lickey Hills in Birmingham, two separate attacks over two nights in March left seven greens torn up by scramblers.

“Don’t know why we bother sometimes. I love this place with all my being but obviously people like to stab you in the heart with a dagger.” Lickey Hills Head Greenkeeper Dave Collins posted on social media.

At Billingham Golf Club in Cleveland, vandals tore round the course on motorbikes this February causing significant damage.

Last December, six greens at Belfairs Golf Club in Essex were ripped apart by quad bike riders causing an estimated £100,000 of damage.

At Cochrane Castle golf course in Renfrewshire, a group of up to 60 youths caused £3,000 of damage in February by gathering on the course, lighting fires and smashing bottles.

Vandalism to golf courses is not a new thing. Bored and moronic youths have always liked to damage things and the odd dismissed and disgruntled greenkeeper has been known to take revenge on a former employer over the years.

Unfortunately, the frequency of these acts of mindless destruction appears to have increased over the last 12 months or so, and the attacks are affecting clubs right across the UK. It could be that we’re reaching a crisis point.

What can be done?

The challenge is in identifying the perpetrators. Most, if not all, of these attacks occur at night, meaning nobody will be around at the golf course to see it happen. The police are unlikely to stake out a golf club night after night to try and catch some hoodlums in the act. Even the most passionate golfer would agree that was not a great use of (already overstretched) police time.

CCTV is a good option, but it can be difficult to identify individuals on grainy nighttime footage and, if the vandals are on motorbikes or quads, they will generally be wearing helmets. It’s also unlikely they’d be foolish enough to be committing the crime on a motor vehicle with a license plate showing.

In each of the incidents mentioned above, the damage was reported to the police, but it’s unusual for those responsible to be prosecuted.

The perpetrators can be caught though. When Kings Links in Aberdeen was churned up and badly damaged by vehicle tyre marks last May, police arrested and charged a 28-year-old man with the malicious vandalism.

At Rhuddlan Golf Club in Wales, two young men and two women were caught on CCTV causing vandalism to the course. The club issued them an ultimatum to pay for the damage or else have the imagery turned over to the police.

It’s impossible to prevent this type of vandalism without building fences all round golf courses, so all clubs can do is to install CCTV cameras where possible, hopefully as a deterrent but, in the worst case, to try and identify those responsible for acts of vandalism and to see them punished accordingly.