A golf course has been ordered to close its 18th hole on “health and safety grounds” by a local council.
Holyhead Golf Club in Wales has been around since 1912, but received this ruling “out of the blue”, according to North Wales Live. The ruling came after someone complained of too many stray golf balls going onto the adjacent property.
“A neighbour said golf balls were leaving the boundary of the course and going onto their property,” a spokesperson for the club told The Times. “He has evidence balls were going into his garden and he raised the issue with the council.”
https://twitter.com/TheTodaysGolfer/status/1892271037305311636
In order to comply with the ruling, the club must move the green away from the complaining property, a project that will cost an estimated £75,000. In the meantime, the club can use only 17 holes and it fears it could close altogether if it can’t come up with the money to make the necessary changes.
“We are very disappointed,” the club spokesperson added. “I don’t know of any golf club in the country who can just find £80,000 out of thin air. But we can’t bury our heads in the sand and just hope everything will be OK. We have got no defence against it. We have to comply.”
Holyhead Golf Club founded in 1912 has been forced to close its 18th hole because one homeowner complained about stray golf balls ending up in their garden. pic.twitter.com/J2YvHVDG4q
— TheGolfDivoTeeâ„¢  (@TheGolfDivoTee) February 21, 2025
A spokesperson for Isle of Anglesey County Council told The Times: “The county council’s public protection team has served an improvement notice to Holyhead Golf Club under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The council has a statutory duty to ensure the health and safety of golf course users as well as members of the public that may be affected by the golf course.”
Holyhead Golf Club has started a GoFundMe page and has raised more than £8,000 so far. The club hopes to have the work complete to re-open the 18th hole on May 1 this year.
It just won’t be the same finisher that golfers have enjoyed for more than a century. According to the Independent, some club members describe Holyhead’s 18th as “the best hole on the Isle of Anglesey”.
