Golf club told to close 18th hole after single complaint about stray balls

Telegraph

20-02-2025

A golf club has been forced to close its 18th hole after a single neighbour complained about stray balls landing in their garden.
The historic Holyhead Golf Club, which was founded in 1912, has been ordered by the local council to shut its final hole on 'health and safety' grounds.
Baffled members are up in arms over the closure, saying the homeowner should not have bought a house next to a golf course in the first place.
The 113-year-old club now fears that it could close altogether if it does not find £75,000 to reconstruct the green at a greater distance from its neighbours.
'A neighbour said golf balls were leaving the boundary of the course and going onto their property,' a spokesman for the club said.
'He has evidence balls were going into his garden and he raised the issue with the council.
'Even though the course has been here since 1912, we have golf balls leaving the confines and the council got involved. They have issued an improvement notice and we've had to comply with that, leaving us with a £75,000 bill for a new golf green.
'There's only one person complaining and we have never had any complaints before.'
Locals criticised the council 's decision, saying the neighbour had no right to complain about a golf course that was already there when they bought the house.
David Yeomans, a local photographer, said: 'Why would you buy a property that's very near a golf course which has been there over 100 years and then complain about balls?'
Darren Baker, a teacher from Holyhead, added: 'The local authority need to be sued for crimes against golf. There was no need to 'improve' the best hole on the island.'
The 18th hole, which has a par of four or five strokes, is billed as 'one of the best finishing holes in north Wales ' but will now be rebuilt, with works scheduled to be completed by May.
'Nobody wants to play a 17-hole golf course,' the club spokesman said. 'We've got juniors here, we do lots with the youngsters and community to get people involved.
'It would be detrimental to the point where we wouldn't be functioning as a golf club if we went down to 17 holes. We have no choice but to make these improvements.'
The club has set up an online fundraiser for the works, which on Thursday morning had raised £7,000.
It had attempted to reduce the number of stray balls with signage, new bunkers and reshaping the hole to 'try to get people away playing away from the boundary'.
'But I think equipment doesn't help these days,' the spokesman said. 'I think people hit it higher and further.'
A spokesman for Isle of Anglesey County Council, which is run by Plaid Cymru, said: '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.
'Our environmental health officers continue to work closely with the golf club in relation to this matter.'