Two UK golf courses revealed as CONSTANT TARGETS of vandalism

Boldon Golf Club in Tyne and Wear and Littlehampton Golf Club in West Sussex have been the victims of destructive vandalism in recent weeks.

Matt Chivers

17 Dec 2021

Two UK courses revealed as CONSTANT TARGET of vandalism

Two golf clubs in England have been the victims of destructive vandalism on a number of occasions in the lead up to Christmas.

Boldon Golf Club in Tyne and Wear was first targeted by vandals on December 12 when the club was broken into and a buggy was stolen.

On the night after, the youths tried to steal another buggy but they were chased away by a member of staff. But things got worse for Boldon on December 14.

Vandals used bolt cutters to gain entry to the golf club. The buggies were smashed and couldn't be used the next day, which mean that many members could not use them.

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At Boldon, a lot of elderly members rely on the use of buggies to enjoy their game but as the golf club's manager Steve Watkin said, it will take some time now to fix the vehicles.

Northumbria Police were informed of the vandalism and they have increased patrols in the area. There have been several reports of youths misbehaving in this area.

Meanwhile, in West Sussex, the general manager of Littlehampton Golf Club revealed that groups of up to 70 youths have met up at the club after hours and caused damage to the course.

Sean Manning revealed that the fairways were littered with bottles and rubbish and there was damage to the greens and flags were stolen and broken.

"When this first started, it cost the club between £500 and £600 to clean up the greens and to fix what had been damaged," Manning said.

"The meet-ups started to happen weekly towards the end of summer. There was one time when it happened when there were members on-site at a private party.

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"These members tried to engage with them but they were verbally abused and threatened and it was really scary.

"The police arrived and were met with about 50 to 70 youths. They called for backup and when they arrived, they said there were too many people there for them to do anything.

"It’s almost like these youths are communicating with each other and planning a large gathering on our dunes and the golf course on purpose, it’s a planned event."

The golf club's staff and members are said to be "demoralised and unhappy" with the current situation. Sussex Police have increased patrols in the area.