Vandals strike many holes in one on top SA golf course

Vandals attempted to destroy parts of the Wild Coast Sun’s golf course in an apparent attempt to scupper the Sunshine Tour tournament scheduled for the weekend.

Under cover of darkness and armed with spades‚ a group of people hacked at the greens on six of the course’s 18 holes.

In a statement issued by Sun International on Sunday‚ the group confirmed that the tour would go ahead.

“We can confirm that during the evening on Saturday the Wild Coast Sun golf course was vandalised whereby a group of individuals with spades damaged sections of the course including a number of the greens.

“Groundskeepers are currently repairing the damage and the planned Sunshine Tour event this week will go ahead as scheduled‚” the statement read.

Six damaged holes have been repaired and groundskeepers were still attempting to repair other parts of the course that were damaged.

Grant Wilson‚ COO of the Sunshine Tour‚ said that vandalism was likely directed at the hotel group and not the tour.

“I am not aware of the cause of the protest action; there are rumours at the moment but its certainly not directed at the tour. We think it is action directed at Sun International‚” he said.

On repairs to the course‚ he said the damage was extensive.

“We worked all day yesterday doing all that we could. It is largely the greens on the back nine that are affected and they will assess [how well the repairs are taking] later today [Monday]‚” Wilson said.

He added that security at the resort had been stepped up ahead of the golf tournament.