Several greens at Gannon Golf Course were vandalized by a youth riding a dirt bike around 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
Michael Cole, a former Park Commission member who has won many club championships at Gannon, observed the incident and reported it to manager/course superintendent Steve Murphy.
“We were lucky that Mike was able to take a picture and get some video of the kid with his cell phone,” said Murphy, adding the photos have been sent to the Lynn Police Department.
Murphy said that the affected greens were on the 10th, 11th, 15th and 17th holes.
“This is just another reason we should be open instead of being operated like a dog park,” said Murphy. “This would not have happened had we been open as, even on a gray day like today, there would have been golfers on the course. Having golfers out there acts as a deterrent to vandals.”
Murphy added that the damage appears to be superficial, but it is too soon to tell.
“It’s ugly and you never want to see any kind of damage to greens any time,” he said. “I’m hoping that Gov. Baker will see this and have some common sense and open golf courses to players before others take advantage and create more serious damage. Without people on the course, the course is wide open for people to engage in vandalism like this.”
