SHILLONG: The golf course in the city is one of the most picturesque grounds in the country. But it has turned into a dump yard in the last few years thanks to the swelling footfall on weekends.
Speaking to reporters, A.H Scott Lyngdoh, Director of Shillong Club, said the golf course is an open course unlike other places in the country where public entry is restricted.
Visitors, both tourists and locals, litter the golf course mindlessly. Scott said though people cannot be barred from entering the ground, their entry could be regulated.
“There is a proposal to realign the road that bisects the golf course and details of the realignment are being worked out,” he added.
The Golf Course is hosting the second edition of the Chief Minister’s Meghalaya Open Golf 2016, which started on Wednesday, where 114 golfers from the entire country would battle it out for Rs 40 lakh prize money.
The Shillong Golf Course was established in 1898 and it is one of the few 18-hole golf courses in India. It is one of the world’s oldest and natural golf courses.
A visit to the golf course on a Sunday morning gives a heart-wrenching picture of a ground strewn with plastic bags and packets, cigarette butts, alcohol bottles and food wrappers.
Though time and again, the issue of protecting the golf course has been discussed and debated, the issue of trespassing into the golf course has not been fully addressed even though the management has appointed a few security guards for patrolling the place.
A few years ago, the BSF had taken the step of cleaning the golf course and the exercise continued only for a few months. The situation is back to square one now.
Scott said the management has prepared the golf course for the Meghalaya Open Golf. He, however, added that the golf course is in a better condition than what it was in the first edition of the event.
