Greenkeepers are working
urgently to repair vandalism to a green ahead of the $1.6 million Heineken Classic
tournament at The Vines Course, near Perth, starting on Thursday. The damage,
to 60 per cent of the first green, was made by someone joyriding in a stolen
golf buggy who performed up to 30 "doughnuts" on the pristine surface, tournament
manager Rod Leembruggen said.
He was confident the green
could be repaired sufficiently in time for the tournament, a joint European and
Australasian tour event featuring Greg Norman.
Staff discovered the mess
early yesterday as they inspected the greens after record rains which fell over
Perth on Friday night and Saturday.
"We believe they stole
a buggy from the resort and decided the green looked a bit like Calder Park raceway,"
Leembruggen said.
"It wasn't a deliberate
act, otherwise they would've done far more significant damage. It was a mindless
act by someone who thought doing it might have been a lot of fun.
"They covered quite a bit
of the green. It will get some scarring but nothing that will affect putting
or play.”
Green staff would lift
the soil to try to get it level "then it will be rolled and cut, rolled and cut
and lifted again".
"It's a challenge they
didn't need but they (staff) have come too far to let something like this get
to them.”
The weekend's rain did
not adversely affect the greens and was actually good for the course, Leembruggen
said.
However, it had made the
greens soft and worsened the damage by the vandals in the buggy.
Meanwhile, Spaniard Miguel
Angel Jiminez, the European No.4, has pulled out of the tournament with flu,
and will also miss the Greg Norman International at The Lakes in Sydney next
week.
