Historic golf course forced to close 18th hole after council receives ‘complaints’

The club is now trying to find thousands of pounds to move the green.

A golf club in Wales has been told to close its 18th hole after a neighbor complained about errant balls finding their way onto his land.

Anglesey County Council ruled in favor of the homeowner, and insisted Holyhead Golf Club shut their par-4 finisher until further notice on health and safety grounds.

According to the Daily Post, the board at Holyhead, which opened in 1912, said the news came “out of the blue” and they “couldn’t face” becoming a 17-hole course.

Instead, they will need to raise more than £75,000 to build a new green.

“A neighbor said golf balls were leaving the boundary of the course and going onto their property,” a spokesman for the 113-year-old club explained. “He has evidence balls were going into his garden and he raised the issue with the council.

“We are very disappointed. I don’t know of any golf club in the country who can just find £80,000 out of thin air. But we can’t bury our heads in the sand and just hope everything will be OK. We have got no defence against it. We have to comply.”

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A spokesperson for Isle of Anglesey County Council, meanwhile, 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.”

The club has set up a GoFundMe page in order to raise the money to redevelop its existing 8th and 18th greens.

It reads: “We are hoping the work is completed by May 1, 2025, and we will be up and running as an 18-hole golf course.”