Golf club has bizarre issue of tourists building sandcastles in its bunkers

A leading Scottish golf club has revealed that it has had to tackle the bizarre problem of tourists in the area walking onto its course and building sandcastles in its bunkers.

Open qualifying venue North Berwick Golf Club has also had families picnicking on greens and surfers stripping off in the rough.

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According to The Scotsman members “have been left shocked at the invasive behaviour of tourists visiting the popular seaside town.”

The club has been forced to put up extra signage in a bid to deter the public from invading the course with their extraordinary behaviour.

The club’s managing secretary, Christopher Spencer, said: “We are fortunate to be right on the coast and have terrific views but with that comes a problem with public access.

“We’ve had people come along and picnic on the greens and families with kids playing in bunkers and building sandcastles. Surfers have been getting naked and changed by the second fairway.

“We have even had people trying to pitch up camping right in front of the 13th green.”

He also recounted an incident where the club professional was forced to ask one family to move from a bunker on the course but was called a “nasty man” who was coming to stop their child’s fun.

And he said that the course is being regularly used as a park for dogs – leaving the course covered in dog mess, and even putting animals and owners in danger.

He said: “We have one to four golfers teeing off every ten minutes on any given day here. If a member of the public was hit by a ball as they crossed a fairway, they could be very seriously injured.

“I was playing the other day and almost hit a dog that was running about on my downswing. If it had been a second later it could have been hit.