BREAKING: Quad bike riders cause thousands of euro of damage to Kildare golf club greens
The first incident happened when golfers were playing on the course
Quad bike users caused thousands of euros worth of damage to a golf club.
The machines were driven across the fairways at Cill Dara Golf Club on Tuesday last (June 25) - and again two nights later.
The exact cost of the damage is not yet known but sections of the grounds will have to be resodded, a club representative said.
According to the representative of the club, which is located on the edge of the Curragh plans just over a mile from Kildare town, extensive damage was caused to the fourth and sixth greens after intruders accessed the course.
Some club members were actually playing when the culprits arrived on Tuesday and it's believed the damage two nights later was caused after dark when nobody was playing.
“Cill Dara Golf Club is very much a community and family entity with 490 members. It is also a local employer with 10 people working there,” the representative said.
The club has been endeavouring to get permission to erect a protective fence around the course for a number of years.
“We can’t protect it,” the representative said
Permission for this is needed from the Department of Defence and the club has contacted both the department and the gardaí following these incidents.
The club has pointed out that it is the only sports facility on the Curragh that does not have its property protected by a perimeter fence and consequently "is open to such intrusion and damage.”
The Curragh Golf Club, on the opposite side of the plains, has fencing.