10,000 golf balls and equipment stolen from a Golf club in the UK

Thieves reportedly broke into Kingsnorth Golf Club in Ashford, Kent on Tuesday night, December 19th, stealing roughly 10,000 golf balls and specialist equipment. This resulted in an estimated total loss of £7,000.

According to reports, the burglar breached a fence to carry out the robbery. The staff members informed the authorities that they noticed a few golf balls abandoned near the woods.

Mark Chilcott, the business owner of Kingsnorth Golf Club (formerly known as Homelands Golf Centre), invested in the venture back in 2014. Alongside four other business partners, he has been actively involved in enhancing the course and the driving range for the benefit of all.

This year, Chilcott made a significant investment of approximately £206,000, acquiring 20,000 golf balls. Unfortunately, a substantial portion of this investment, around 10,000 balls were stolen. Addressing the recent loss, Chilcott reflected on the efforts and initiatives he has undertaken throughout the year.

Mark Chilcott said (via KentOnline):

“I have invested about £206,000 this year to get new equipment for the club so it could be open to the public again. I bought 20,000 brand new balls and now just over 10,000 have been stolen, that's about £7,000 worth.”

While no arrests have been made, police are actively investigating the matter and have obtained CCTV footage from the golf club for further examination.

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A look into a golf ball stealing incident - Abandoned balls were stolen by a thief back in 2002

Instances of golf ball thefts have been reported in the past involving both people and animals. Back in 2002, an incident involving a man named John Collinson was reported. He stole abandoned golf balls from the pond at Whetstone Golf Club in Leicestershire.

There were two sacks filled with approximately 1,158 balls, valued between $70 and $700. Policemen caught Collision red-handed with these sacks. Despite receiving a six-month sentence for the crime, Collison argued that since the balls were in the pond, they belonged to no one and couldn't be considered a robbery.

He further elaborated that he used to sell these balls for 15 pence (20 cents) each to companies that would then wash and resell them. The case was also presented to the judges at London’s Court of Appeal.

Upon examining the matter, two of the judges lifted Collison's sentence and advised him not to repeat the offense. He was freed from jail after spending nine days there.