Police arrive at golf club as it is asked to close due to Covid-19
By Alistair Dunsmuir
A golf club that has holes in Tier 3 in England, where golf is allowed, and in Wales, where amateur golf is currently forbidden, has been asked to close.
Llanymynech Golf Club lies on the English-Welsh border and is the only golf course that has some of its holes in England and some in Wales. The fourth hole is even in both countries.
Its unique selling point has traditionally been that you can play golf in both nations at the venue, but this has proven to be a source of confusion whenever England and Wales have introduced different coronavirus lockdown rules surrounding golf, such as last May and now.
To add to the confusion, Llanymynech Golf Club pays its rates to Powys County Council in Wales but its governing body is England Golf and its postal town is Oswestry in Shropshire.
Llanymynech Golf Club. Image from Facebook
Police visited the club on January 2 after Powys County Council asked for it to be closed.
Club officials said officers were ‘only there to assist and were not there to enforce the closure’ of the club, and that further discussion over whether it can stay open are likely to take place.
Wales banned golf due to Covid-19 on December 19, for at least three weeks, but Llanymynech was permitted to remain open for the rest of the year as it was judged to be under English rules. On December 31, Shropshire moved from Tier 2 to Tier 3, but amateur golf is currently allowed in all four tiers in England.
Sian Whiteoak, club secretary, said: “Powys County Council have asked us to close for the time being. The police came in a supporting capacity. We’re still in discussion with everybody.
“Our governing body for golf is in England. Our clubhouse has been closed since October. It’s one of those confusing situations because we are half and half (in Shropshire and Wales).”
Shortly before the police visited the club, it posted on Facebook ‘Happy new year, things can only get better!’
By Alistair Dunsmuir
Write a comment
3 Comments
View comments
Write a comment
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
The government should toughen the lockdown by giving officers the right to force entry into homes of suspected law breakers, a policing leader has said.
David Jamieson, the police and crime commissioner for the West Midlands police, England’s second biggest force, said: “For the small minority of people who refuse entry to police officers and obstruct their work, the power of entry would seem to be a useful tool…….
Anybody still think this is about a virus ?
Reminds me of RT Jones, Rockrimmon CC in Connecticut with some holes in New York State, and some in Connecticut!
Brilliant!! Whoever they pay their rates to controls the course, I would think…………. Let’s hope it’s English for the golfers sake.