A golf club in the north-west of England has been targeted by vandals who used off-road bikes to tear up two of its greens.
Tunshill Golf Club in Rochdale posted images to its Facebook page of the damage caused by vandals, with tyre tracks cut into the greens on the seventh and eighth holes. The latter green suffered the most damage in an act described as the worst in the club's 122-year history.
In the post, the club also appealed for help from anyone who may have footage of the incident. It wrote: “Yesterday we suffered the worst act of vandalism the club has seen in its 122 years. Several greens have had two motorbikes ridden over them causing thousands of pounds worth of damage. Two people were seen riding away from the course on motorbikes. If anybody has any dash cam or CCTV footage of them around 16.40 yesterday could you please message the club. Thank you.”
The club also confirmed to the Manchester Evening News that it has its own CCTV footage of two off-road bikes riding towards the club and would be contacting the police in due course.
Club president Ion Greenwood explained the extent of the damage to the publication. He said: "A couple of persons have ridden their off-road bikes onto the golf course through a path that has been created. They have then decided to do doughnuts on a couple of the greens. It is the seventh and eighth greens, but the eighth is the worst. We have evaluated the damage and put some remedial work down already, and we are going to contact the police at some stage."
Greenwood also said the timing of the incident coincides with its preparations for the season. He said: "We are hoping it is repairable. We are coming out of the dormant period into the grass growing period so hopefully it will all be repaired, but it will take some time. Our preparation for the season is in full swing. The course is in great nick and now this major setback."
The attack came less than four months after a similar act of vandalism at Stirling Golf Club in Scotland amid a general rise of course vandalism in recent years.
Despite the latest incident, the nine-hole course remains open.
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