Vandals Do $90K In Damage To Small-Town Oklahoma Golf Course

Vandals went for a joyride on a local golf course, and now members are offering a reward to find the people responsible.

The damage is costing the Keystone Golf Club around $90,000. That’s a steep price for any place, but for a small-town municipal golf course, it’s devastating.

Club manager Darren Buttram said the damage couldn't have come at a worse time.

It was a beautiful day on Friday, which meant it was a busy one at Keystone Golf Course,

Even vandals can't keep golfers away.

Crews were mowing on Thursday morning when they noticed big ruts on the green at hole No. 6.

"I got sick to my stomach,” golfer Les Swalley said. “I'm putting on a big tournament tomorrow, and I have a lot of people from out of town coming in."

Buttram says someone drove past five holes and then decided to drive in a circle on the sixth green, leaving large tire marks behind.

“We think it's just some kids that didn't realize the extent of the damage they have done,” Buttram said.

Repairs carry a price tag of around $90,000.

“This isn't  a grass that you can just go to the local sod store and buy, it's a special grass that's only grown in certain areas," he said.

It wasn't just the green on No. 6 that is damaged, a practice green also is torn up.

The sod from that green had to be used to “We go in and lift this sod up and cut it up in small slabs and take it over to the damaged area," Buttram said.

Buttram is watering the green every 30 minutes, hoping the new sod will grow and survive the heat .

Members of the small-town course are so upset they're offering $2,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

“We want whoever [did] it, really bad,” Buttram said.

It couldn't have happened at a worse time.

June is typically the clubs busiest month.

The livelihood of employees and the club itself could be at stake when vandals strike.

"Bear with us on one bad green, but we will get it as playable as we possibly can," he said.

The Cleveland police are investigating, so if you have any information about the damage caused to the course on Airport Road, please call 918-358-3112.

Members say the reward is for whomever can give a tip that ends in an arrest – no questions asked. They just want the culprits to face the consequences.