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Sep 18th, 2016
Cat burglar is golf ball thief
Cat ruining rounds at Aldeburgh GC
Words: James Greenwood
A cat has been ruining rounds at a golf course by stealing golf balls, and forcing the club's exasperated owners to change their rules.
Burmese cat Merlin has been hounding players at Aldeburgh Golf Club, in Suffolk to mix a metaphor.
His owner Peter Bryson said he would bring home up to six a day.
The club has told golfers who have their balls nicked by Merlin's that they can substitute them without incurring a penalty.
Aldeburgh GC
A sign on the notice board at the golf club warns: "A large brown coloured Burmese cat has been seen picking up and carrying away golf balls in the vicinity of the 14th hole.
"Where this has been witnessed or when it is virtually certain that a ball has disappeared from the closely-mown surfaces, a substitute ball may be dropped."
The notice informs players that a cat is considered an "outside agency", referring to the ball being moved by someone other than the player or a caddy.
It says that a substitute ball may be used "without penalty", unless it is in the rough.
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