Revered Essex Golf Course Suffers Devastating Vandalism

Members and staff at Thorndon Park Golf Club in Brentwood, Essex are currently recovering from the devastating shock of seeing their beloved course vandalised by quad bikes.

Designed by the legendary Harry Colt, this renowned layout is Highly Recommended on Golfshake and is unquestionably a golfing treasure of the South East of England, but for the time being, focus is firmly on repairing the substantial damage.

Two quad bikes were filmed on Sunday afternoon (at around 16:30) spinning across six greens and more than half of the fairways, which stands as perhaps the worst incident of this kind that we've seen. It's too early to say exactly how much the repairs will cost, but it will be in the tens of thousands, with holes three to seven and the 16th currently being closed.

Iain Evans, general manager of the club, said to the BBC: "We are all obviously devastated - a lot of hard work goes into preparing the golf course for members to enjoy.

"The initial thoughts were a little bit of anger and then just astonishment that someone can cause that much damage.

"Just mindless damage to what is effectively a natural environment is just awful.

"Maintaining the surface and caring for fine turf is an art. We employ greenkeepers and now they've got the unenviable task of trying to recover those areas, trying to make them fit for play.

"There has been vandalism on the golf course before with motorbikes but certainly not to this extent."

Well, this is very much out there now so let’s talk facts. Two quad bikes got onto the course Sunday afternoon and decided to do there best to destroy 6 of our greens and a number of tees. Devastated doesn’t even cover it. Like all things, this can be repaired, and we will have… pic.twitter.com/Wx8vWAQ4bv

— Thorndon Park GC Greenkeepers (@GcThorndon) January 21, 2025

Such acts of vandalism have sadly become a recurring problem throughout much of the UK. Last year, we caught up with our Equipment Expert, Ryan Rastall, the Head Professional at Howley Hall Golf Club, who described the dramatic measures taken by the Yorkshire venue to combat repeated attacks that they have suffered.

Essex Police are currently investigating the criminal acts at Thorndon Park and are seeking information to help with their enquiries, but as we slowly approach springtime and the new golf season, the members, greenkeepers and other staff at the club are still processing the extent of what happened last weekend.

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