Employees at the Mudgee Golf Club arrived at the weekend to find that it had been vandalised, mirroring a similar incident that occurred on the same hole in 2012.
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Functions and events coordinator, Emily Wrona spoke to the Mudgee Guardian about how the damage affects the staff who maintain it as well as the work needed to repair it.
Emily said that this isn’t the first or, unfortunately, the last time the course has been victim to vandalisation or theft.
In June, 2012 the fifth green was damaged when vandals used a vehicle to damage part of the fifth hole.
In addition to turf damage, flags often go missing too.
Read more: Vandals on the fifth hole
“So I think this is probably the third time we've had to order in new flags to replace the ones that were stolen,” Emily said.
“With the fifth green being vandalised, it's bad for the golfers, we've got our open here next weekend,”
“The greens staff do so much to get it looking good especially with the drought. It's just a kick in the guts for them,”
“There will probably be a few more instances of theft this summer.”
Because there are so many entry points to the course, it's too big to monitor every part of the course.
“Honestly, it's fine to walk through and take a shortcut, but have some respect and don't damage what isn't yours.”