As golf season begins to wind down here in the Sioux Empire, it appears it will end even sooner for a golf course located just west of Mitchell.

KDLT News is reporting that Dakota Trails Golf Course located in rural Corsica will be closing up the clubhouse for the season just after Labor Day due to vandalism.

According to KDLT News, golf course workers first noticed that 8 out of their 9 flagpoles went missing on (August 14). Shortly after that, the majority of the greens on the course began to turn brown. So much so, that from a distance it appears the holes are sitting in the middle of sand traps.

That shouldn't be the case since the Dakota Trails Golf Course features a lake and plenty of trees. As golf course Treasurer Mike Plooster told KDLT News, "It’s a very nice golf course.”

Golf course board members suspected vandalism and sent off soil samples from the greens affected to a facility in Ohio to get tested. The results showed that Roundup, a solution used to kill weeds was indeed applied to 8 out of the 9 greens on the course.

Plooster told KDLT News, as a result of the vandalism, the course will be losing 6 to 8 weeks of playing time this fall and next spring.

Workers will need to begin to re-seed, rebuild, and re-shape the damaged greens. That is going to take time and money. According to Plooster, it's still too early to know the exact amount the damage will cost.

The KDLT News report stated the only hole that was not damaged by Roundup was hole 9. That particular hole is the closest one to the clubhouse and does show up on video surveillance.

While the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the vandalism incident, the golf course is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who can provide credible information that leads to the identity, and conviction of the vandal or vandals.

Source: KDLT TV


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