Anglesey County Council ruled in favour of the homeowner and insisted the club shut the par-4 finishing hole until further notice on health and safety grounds.
The board at Holyhead said the news came “out of the blue” and they “couldn’t face” becoming a 17-hole course and is now seeking to raise £75,000 to build a new 18th green.
“A neighbour 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 that 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 that can just find £75,000 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.”
A spokesperson for Isle of Anglesey County Council 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 18th and 8th greens. To date, just over £7,500 has been raised from a target of £10,000.
A statement on the funding page stated: “We have been quoted a price of £75,000 for the work to be carried out, We are hoping the work is completed by May 1, 2025 and we will be up and running as an 18-hole golf course.”