Wild Coast Sun Country Club, home to this week’s Sunshine Tour event in South Africa, was the victim of rampant vandalism over the weekend, with Wild Coast’s greens shredded with spades and shovels. Crews from the Sunshine Tour have since assisted teams from the Wild Coast Sun as well as those from Sun International, a local resort chain and sponsor of the tournament, to repair the damage.
“There were no witnesses to the incident, but messages left on some of the course flags indicated that this was the beginning of further planned action,” a spokesperson for Sun International said.
Player Michael Hollick, however, said the damage might have been from the course’s staff that was recently let go.
“So the local community near the Wild Coast Sun weren’t happy about something so what do they do: they go onto the golf course and dig up the last six greens!” Hollick wrote on Facebook. “Boggles my mind what goes through the heads of some people… apparently there were some staff fired for illegal striking this past week and this was their retaliation.”
Hollick posted photos of the destruction, with most of the greens harmed on the back nine.
Disgusting! Taken this morning, and a @Sunshine_Tour event begins Wed at the Wild Coast. #Unjustified pic.twitter.com/AnfbvTp39U
— Dean Grove (@GroverGP) August 19, 2018
The vandals also left a message on a flag, indicating further issues will arise.
The Sunshine Tour has not responded to a Golf Digest request for further comment.
Amazingly, the clean-up crews have made a stout recovery effort, and the Sunshine Tour still plans on playing at Wild Coast Sun this week.
https://twitter.com/mikehollick/status/1031237779248824320
The Sunshine Tour has issued a statement that security measures have been re-assessed and beefed up for the rest of the event.
The Sunshine Tour is based predominantly in South Africa, with competitions also held in Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Zambia and Mauritius. It is one of the five founding members of the International Federation of PGA Tours.
