‘Mindless’ attack renders golf green ‘unplayable’

Police are asking for information after vandals attacked a popular Scottish golf venue by gouging out divots with a golf club on one of its greens.

The seventh green at Dumfries and Galloway Golf Club was targeted in what club officials are calling a ‘mindless attack’. It’s thought the vandals used a golf club to create several divots in the turf.

A nearby fence was also trashed.

The attack was carried out overnight on Saturday, October 28, before being discovered by staff the following morning.

While the damage caused was significant, the greenkeeping team announced the green was repaired within two days and was back in play in less than a week.

A statement on Facebook posted two days after the attack read: ‘The seventh green has now been repaired but will remain on the temporary green for a few days to help with recovery. We are using the fifth medal tee as the seventh temporary green at the moment to keep traffic away from the seventh green area. Thanks for your patience.’

Deputy head greenkeeper Steven Carmichael, 38, said: “It was completely mindless damage and very frustrating for us and the club as it was time-consuming for us to rectify.

“We’ve been getting damage on other areas of the course with flags and rakes from bunkers going missing. We had kids build a bonfire on the course and we repaired that as well.

“It’s been an ongoing issue for us this season but it’s been quite bad recently.”

He added: “It appears to be a golf club that’s been used to hack divots into the ground. We don’t know who or why someone has done it but it’s very disappointing.

“The green is near the road so it would have taken less than five minutes to do all of this damage.”

Police are asking for anyone with information to contact them.

Constable Dale McEwan said immediately after the attack: “This has been a sustained attack on the green and the damage will render the green unplayable for some considerable time.

“The green is adjacent to the Castle Douglas road in Dumfries and we are asking anyone who may have seen anyone acting suspiciously in this area to get in touch through the 101 number if they can help.”