Southampton Municipal Golf Course vandalised by quadbikers

In broad daylight, youngsters on bikes and quadbikes ripped across the Southampton Municipal Golf Course green, leaving tire marks on the field and part of the course unusable to the club’s members.

Those exercising and nearby dog walkers watched as the 27-hole council-run course was damaged on Saturday afternoon.

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The city council took over management of the golf course in April 2021 after the former operator Mytime Active ceased operations due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Matthew Longland former captain of Southampton Municipal Golf Course (Image: Newsquest)

According to the club’s committee member Matthew Longland, this is the fourth time this year the course has been subjected to vandalism - however, Southampton City Council dispute this.

The course was last hit by vandals in April this year when the course's green was again damaged as a result of tire marks.

Matthew said: “It’s massively disheartening for the members that we have but also for those that we’re trying to attract. Some get fed up and just move to private clubs and that defeats the whole purpose of why we run our course.

“We don’t make any profit out of the members, everything that we get is invested back into the site. We try to make the course as safe as an environment for everyone to enjoy.

“When these things happen it’s just a massive stop to what we can do. We can’t just let these things go; we have to repair the damage and it just means more costs to our maintenance work.”

Matthew, who has been a member of the club since 2012 before becoming the captain of the club from April 2022 to April 2023, has called for more police presence in the area.

He said: “I think what is needed is a heightened police presence around the area so that the kids don’t feel they can just get around and do this.

“We also need to improve a barrier at the back of the course so that the kids can’t easily access the course from the woods."

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said they could not find a record of this incident.

A spokesperson for Southampton City Council said: "It’s really sad to see vandalism to a section of green four at the Southampton Municipal Golf Course.

"This is the first incident of this kind this year. The grounds maintenance team at the council started work to repair the damage caused to the course on Sunday morning.

"We’ve ensured players have an alternative green to play and we anticipate that the impacted area (green 4) will be back open within two weeks.

"We’re very much welcoming players for a great value round of golf, and pleased the impact of the vandalism on players is limited.

"Our 18-hole championship course is a great asset to the city. Sitting within a conservation area of natural beauty, it offers an outstanding location for a round of golf and leisure."