Damage control

Golf course Vandalism might be unpreventable, but superintendents can take various precautions.

Golf course superintendents face a never-ending battle to keep their golf courses in tip-top shape, both agronomically and aesthetically. Disease, pests and weather serve as constant foes. Many superintendents can add one more nemesis to their battle – the vandal.

Indian Creek Golf Club in Omaha, Neb., was victimized by vandals who beat the greens with tee markers.

While disease and pests can be controlled through various pesticide applications, and weather is a constant that will always be dealt with, vandalism can rear its ugly head at any point, and there seems to be little anyone can do to prevent it from happening.

Ron DiLauro, owner of the pro shop and instructor at Riverwoods Golf Course in Akron, Ohio, saw first hand what can happen when someone decides to visit a golf course after hours. Sept. 24, vandals took nine golf carts, drove on the course, tearing up turfgrass, and then drove two carts into the Cuyahoga River. Damage estimates are between $150,000 and $175,000, according to DiLauro. Though the carts were damaged, much of the money will be spent repairing the six greens torn up by the joy riders. This marked the third time vandalism occurred at Riverwoods.

Denis Schilling, superintendent at Pheasant Ridge Golf Course and Washington Park Golf Course in Cedar Falls, Iowa, credits vandalism to the city being home to the University of Northern Iowa. Though Washington Park has been the scene of more serious damage to golf carts, Schilling says most of the vandalism consists of students taking “mementos” to hang on their dorm room walls. Understanding that flags are probably the most attractive items to pilfer, he avoids putting new flags on the course when the fall semester is beginning or the spring semester is ending. That said, he knows certain vandalism is going to occur.

“I don’t know if there’s much you can do to avoid some vandalism,” Schilling says.

Stealing flags, taking golf carts for joy rides or spray-painting graffiti are common acts of vandalism and generally are attributed to kids with too much time on their hands and nothing better to do. Though these acts are certainly unwanted, they’re not unexpected. Unexpected vandalism can come from extremist groups determined to call attention to themselves and their cause by wreaking havoc at highly visible venues.

John Carlone, CGCS, at The Meadowbrook Club in Jericho, N.Y., says he’s been pretty fortunate not to have to deal with frequent vandalism. According to Carlone, there have only been two instances of carts being taken from the course in his nine years there. They were returned after a little joy ride that didn’t resulted in damage to the course, just a few dings on the carts. However, as he was preparing the 18-hole private club to host the 2002 Long Island Classic, members of the Animal Liberation Front severely damaged the fourth green by carving a person’s name in the turf with shovels.

Vandals punctured the greens at Indian Creek with flagsticks.

According to the ALF’s communique, the group targeted The Meadow Brook Club because one of its members has ties to a company that conducted animal research.

“It was well planned … well thought out,” Carlone says. “I had six different superintendents come over and look at it. Every one said it was the worst vandalism they had ever seen.”

Even with the damage, the tournament – and preceding pro-am – was going to take place. Carlone and his staff used lighting designed for night repair work on highways and worked on the green for 48 hours straight, with four men rotating shifts. They took sod from the back of the green to complete the repair, and because most of the damage was on the back two-thirds of the green, pin placements for the tournament were relegated to the front of the green. He also used the ladies tees to shorten the long par 3. No problems were reported, and the green was back in play for members within a week and in top shape by the following season.

According to Carlone, someone has been detained for the act and he’s been told by a district attorney to be available to testify in a federal court in January.

Bob Hall, superintendent at Indian Creek Golf Club in Omaha, Neb., a 27-hole high-end public course, dealt with the actions of another extremist group – the Earth Liberation Front, a.k.a. ELF – in 2001. ELF is an Internet-based organization with no leadership. “Independent contractors” generally commit acts done in the name of the ELF.

“They painted their slogans on bridges, cart paths – anything they could find to paint on,” Hall says.

Slogans were disparaging of farmers and corporate America. They also tipped benches and ball washers.

After the incident, Hall contacted other courses in the area to alert them of the possibility of an attack, and three college students were caught after assaulting another course shortly thereafter. They were fined and ordered to perform community service.

More recently, Indian Creek dealt with vandals taking tee signs off posts and beating several greens with them. The vandals also damaged greens by puncturing holes in the greens with flagpoles.

Hall knows vandalism is common throughout the country, but the thought process behind it remains a mystery to him.

“Every place I’ve been, there’s been vandalism,” he says about trouble big or small. “I don’t know why they feel the need to pick on golf courses.”

Deterring vandalism
Dealing with vandalism is frustrating, but many of the same precautions used to prevent burglary also can deter vandalism. Much of what makes golf courses so aesthetically appealing is landscaping. However, excessive landscaping can provide cover or hiding places for would-be vandals. Many courses aren’t visible from the street, but by keeping the areas around the clubhouse, maintenance building and where carts are stored well lit, vandals are less likely to attack. Lastly, if vandalism occurs, repairing any damage or graffiti as soon as possible is recommended. Doing this reduces the chance of copycat crimes and lessens the affect on the paying public.

In addition to ripping signage of posts and damaging greens, vandals tipped ball washers and benches at Indian Creek.

In the case of Riverwoods, the carts aren’t fenced in, making the course an easy mark for vandals. An obvious option would be to fence in the carts. Another is to hire a security company to oversee the course at night, which is costly, according to DiLauro. Some workers stayed at the course the night following the vandalism, but unlike the saying, the vandals didn’t return to the scene of the crime.

Hall used to work at a course that suffered a lot of vandalism. That course hired security guards, but still dealt with vandals. He says it became a game for the vandals. They’d cause a commotion in one area and then strike another area while the guards were distracted.

Taking care of business in-house, Hall says superintendents can make committing acts of vandalism more difficult for the vandals.

“The harder you can make it, the better,” he says. “Any kind of deterrent would help.”

Hall suggests getting the word out to the public to let any act of vandalism be known because word of mouth can turn up leads.

Though Hall thinks it’s an extreme measure, he knows some superintendents who bring all the flags in at night. He says one can’t really budget for expected theft or vandalism, but can be prepared for it.

“Carry plenty of extra flag poles and tee markers,” he says.

Schilling knows the value of having a cart building or caged area for carts, but he suggests an extra, seemingly obvious, step: never leave the keys in the carts.
“Club Car keys are Club Car keys, though,” he admits.

Though it’s not unheard of for vandals to get keys, by having them locked away from the carts, it’s one extra step in avoiding trouble.

Moving on
Perhaps the toughest part of dealing with his most recent brush with vandalism was the loss of business, DiLauro says. Though the course was playable, golfers stayed away.

“We had so much coverage this time, for whatever reason,” he says. “People thought we were closed.

“We have a great grounds crew and were open within four hours,” DiLauro adds.

A veteran of experiencing vandalism, Hall says it has gotten easier to cope with the damage, but he still feels the pain – emotionally and financially.

“I’ve gotten better at just moving on and dealing with it,” he says. “It’s hard to put a value on what they do to the grass, but with the man hours, tees and flags … it all adds up.”

With increasing costs of fuel, fertilizer and many other items it takes to run a course, repairing damage from vandals is one cost superintendents can do without.  GCN