Two teenagers were apprehended after riding an all-terrain vehicle across a bayou that borders the Humble, Texas course and did significant damage to the 16th green on June 23. The vandals’ parents have offered to make restitution for the damages, which have yet to be fully assessed.
Officials at the Golf Club of Houston in Humble, Texas, site of the PGA Tour’s Houston Open, are hoping that the apparent apprehension of two teenagers who vandalized one of the greens at the club’s Tournament Course, will discourage similar acts in the future, GolfAdvisor reported.
On June 23, a pair of teenagers from a nearby neighborhood apparently rode an all-terrain vehicle across a bayou that borders the course and did significant damage to the 16th green. Fortunately, security cameras were able to capture images of the boys and the ATV they were riding, and that helped police apprehend the suspects, GolfAdvisor reported.
According to General Manager Sergio Salazar, officials and police caught a break when the boys apparently returned the next day to ride along the banks of the bayou near the course, GolfAdvisor reported.
Director of Agronomy Brian Buckner, CGCS, happened to see the pair as did an off-duty police officer, and they recognized the ATV, which had some distinctive aftermarket alterations. The officer followed the boys home, and the Golf Club of Houston (owned by Escalante Golf) has filed a police report, GolfAdvisor reported.
By catching the culprits, Salazar hopes it sends a message. “Don’t do it,” he said is the message he wants to send to anyone who thinks they can get away with these stunts.
The parents have offered to make restitution for the damages, which have yet to be fully assessed. The maintenance staff has already re-sodded the portion of the green that was damaged, GolfAdvisor reported.
The silver lining is that it happened in June, long before the course is overseeded for next March’s PGA Tour event. Fortunately, grass in Houston grows at a remarkable rate in June. On New Year’s Day 2016, someone carved out doughnuts on the same green, and repairs in January were a little more difficult, GolfAdvisor reported.
“Unfortunately we are pretty good on these repairs with the amount of 4-wheeler damage repaired over the past couple years,” Buckner wrote in a blog for the club. “Great job by team members Carlos, Daniel, and Antonio. Thank you everyone that helped keep an eye out for our course.”
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