NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla. — At North Palm Beach Country Club, one of two public courses in the country designed by gold legend Jack Nicklaus, there are always repairs needed to upkeep its unique fairways and greens. However, recent vandalization to the course has local officials demanding change.
North Palm Beach Police say kids on e-bikes are tearing through the fairways, greens and bunkers of the course. Images shared with WPTV show deep ruts and track marks left behind, along with vandalization of the bathrooms.
Officials have already spent tens of thousands of dollars to repair damages, and now there is a major push to stop the destruction for good.
WATCH: WPTV Reporter Michael Hoffman spoke with Allan Bowman, head golf professional at the course, who says they shelled out $40,000 for repairs last year just from kids on e-bikes.
Bowman says they have already spent $30,000 this year, expecting to exceed last year's damage costs.
"They seem to think the golf course is an e-bike trail," Bowman said. "We had three kids on the golf course last night, yesterday afternoon, that the police got. We had them flooding the bathroom. Earlier in the week, we had three different instances of e-bikes out there."
The Village of North Palm Beach is looking to strengthen language in the village code, aiming to change course rules on when and where motorized vehicles can drive around the course.
However, in a March 13 vote, the village elected to keep the hours the same.
“The hope is that if we strengthen the language, then we can it's easier for the police to help us enforce the rules,” Bowman said. “If the golf course is closed when the sun goes down and the last golfer comes out here, there should be nobody on the golf course.”
WPTV reached out to local police officials to seek solutions to the issue. They said no arrests have been made and they would not comment on if the kids caught on the e-bikes have been barred from returning to the course.
“I feel like the parents need to document themselves with what it is that they're buying these children,” Officer Jose Miranda said. “Some of these bikes are not even road legal. They're also not explaining to them where it is that they're supposed to ride them.
The village will have another vote on possible changes to the code on April 10.
