Golf club battles hungry badgers digging up greens

A golf course owner has been forced to take drastic action to protect its greens from damage by badgers searching for food during the drought.

Susan Moore, owner of Clare Park Lake Golf Course in Clare, Suffolk, said the animals had left parts of the course "churned up and like a ploughed field".

She has started rolling netting over the course once play has finished and has also taken to playing a radio overnight and using flashing lights to deter the stripey saboteurs.

"You've got to come out with your head torch, roll out your nets, then get up in the morning and roll them back up again," she said.

Moore said the damage first appeared on Wednesday night, when a badger had appeared to rip up the grass and had tried to dig a hole.

Repairing the greens means replacing material and reseeding the grass, which can then need watering two or three times a day.

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She believes badgers are being drawn to the watered greens because the softer soil makes finding food such as worms easier.

"Whilst we like to distract them, or deter them, from messing things up a bit for us, we have to respect the fact that they live here too," she said.

Renee Hockley-Byam, chairman of North East Essex Badger Group explained that dry, hard ground had made it "impossible" for badgers to find food.

She said badgers could "smell damp earth from a mile off", which was why they were attracted to places still able to use hosepipes, such as golf courses, and urged people to leave water out for them where possible.

Regarding netting, she warned: "All rescuers will have encountered animals caught up in netting, which can lead to appalling injuries with the blood supply being cut off."

However, she said she had discussed the issue with the golf club and was happy with its plans to support badgers away from the greens.

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