It takes one night and a gap in the railings to undo months of greenkeeping. Cheshunt Park Golf Course found that out this week, and the sad part is how familiar the story has become. Eight greens at the Broxbourne public course were churned up overnight between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, leaving a stretch of the layout unplayable.

Broxbourne Borough Council did not hold back in its statement: “This is a mindless act of criminal damage that has had a significant impact on one of the Borough’s valued leisure facilities.”

The damage hit the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 15th greens. The BBC reports that circular marks across the surfaces look like the work of motorbikes, quad bikes or similar vehicles, and that the culprits broke in through the railings. Hertfordshire Police are treating it as criminal damage, and Sgt Chris Fisher has asked anyone who saw something suspicious near Park Lane to come forward. No arrests have been reported.

Operator Be.Broxbourne plans a partial reopening on Saturday with 11 of 18 holes in play if repairs go to plan, and golfers will pay the twilight rate all day. The council has warned the full job “will take time.”

The money is the bigger sting. “Money that should be invested in improving facilities for residents will now have to be diverted to repairing damage caused by this senseless act,” the council said. On a public course, that is a community cost, not just a golf one.

Greenkeepers at other golf courses have faced similar problems. At Royal Eastbourne, 12 greens across two courses were damaged with shovels overnight on February 26 and 27. General manager Tom Breach did not believe it was just teenagers having fun. 

He said: “It doesn’t seem to me to have been the work of a couple of kids messing around – it feels fairly deliberate.”

In Sandwell, Dartmouth Golf Club was attacked three times between February and April. Bikers drove doughnuts on the greens, and the club said they cut the razor wire protecting the course and wrapped it around a flagpole. Vice captain Dan Elwell said: “The fact that they wrapped razor wire around the flag feels like they are mocking us.”

Nigg Bay in Aberdeen was hit twice in a fortnight this February. Bondhay Golf Club in Worksop has also reported seven greens damaged.

Golf Monthly raised concerns in 2024 about whether golf clubs were reaching “a crisis point” after several attacks on courses. At Belfairs in Essex, quad bikes badly damaged six greens, causing an estimated £100,000 in damage. At Lickey Hills in Birmingham, scrambler bikes damaged seven greens over two nights.

These reports do not prove that such attacks are increasing across the country. The incidents are also not linked. However, they show how costly the damage can be, especially for smaller golf clubs. Dartmouth said repairs can cost “into the tens of thousands” and take months to complete. The club also loses money because it cannot charge golfers to use damaged greens.

Catching those responsible is also difficult. Golf Monthly reported that police often struggle to prosecute because CCTV footage at night is unclear and riders wear helmets. It is also not practical for golf courses to put up fences around their entire grounds.

This leaves golf course operators, including the council, in a difficult situation. Broxbourne Council has said it will try to recover the repair costs if those responsible are identified. Until then, the damage affects the hundreds of golfers who use the course and the local residents who depend on this public facility.