Updated 08/25/2008 06:30 PM
Corning Country Club vandalized
CORNING, N.Y. -- "It's not a good day in the golf club business," said Mike Sweet, General Manager of Corning Country Club.
Sweet came to work at the Corning Country Club Monday to find this: debris everywhere, landscape torn up and golf carts in bunkers and in the woods. Sweet says he quickly learned it wasn't the work of Sunday night's storm but vandals who hotwired about a dozen carts and took them for a damaging ride.
"It looks like they were intentionally trying to wreck the golf carts until they wouldn't operate any more, almost like a demolition derby," Sweet said.
Sweet says the so-called derby caused more than a $100,000 in damage that upset club members and workers.
“The staff here, I think, was probably as much devastated as even our members. They take such great pride in this course and the work that they do here," said Sweet.
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
The damage has shut down nine holes at the Corning Country Club. That's affecting play, starting with a tournament for volunteers of the LPGA Corning Classic.
"It was just sad. Because we had some people who drove up from Albany and from the State College area. But everyone was very congenial," said Denece Gossie, LPGA Corning Classic Tournament Manager.
Volunteers were given the option to play nine holes or choose another course or date.
"They're the lifeblood of our tournament. So we wanted to do whatever we could do to appease them today because it wasn't anyone's fault," said Gossie.
New York State Police have started investigating whose fault the vandalism actually was and staff have started putting back together the Corning Country Club.
New York State Police say they've started checking out evidence found at the Corning Country Club, as well as leads into who caused the vandalism there.