|
'Boyracers' tear up golf course
27.10.09
by Linda McGrory
GREENCASTLE Golf Club has been stunned by
mindless vandals who drove onto the links
tearing up the course with handbrake turns.
The culprits drove the car onto the course
through a gate near the main entrance and
proceeded to drive over the putting green on the
first hole. They then sped down 50 metres of the
fairway churning up large divots with handbrake
turns. |
|
However, the worst of
the damage was caused when the driver drove over the
flag on the first putting green, ripping up the
centre cup and surrounding green, while leaving
several tyre tracks on the surface.
Greencastle Golf Club manager Billy McCaul said the
club were struggling to understand the mindlessness
of the incident which happened sometime between
Monday night and the early hours of Tuesday. |
"There's just no
purpose to this kind of thing, it's mindless," said
Mr McCaul. The club's greenkeeper, who gets regular
praise for the high quality of the greens, had to
spend hours trying to repair the damage last week.
The damaged fairway had to be resurfaced with sand
and clay while the damaged hole also had to be
delicately repaired. |
|
"It's the damage to the
putting green that concerns us most," said Mr McCaul.
"It would seem the driver was trying to knock down
the flag but the flag didn't give way. The flag pole
prised up the cup causing, what you might call, a
mole-hill effect in the centre of the green.
"Nature and the elements will eventually repair the
fairway, but the greens are far more delicate and
require a lot of hard work to get them right. We're
just glad it wasn't a lot worse."
It is understood some damage was caused to the
hub-cap of the car as the driver fled the scene over
a small trench. |
|