Teens Are Tearing up a Florida Golf Course, with Police Calls Piling Up

Teen riders tearing across a Cape Coral golf course apparently have not been deterred by damaged greens, angry workers or repeated calls to police.

Workers at Hunters Run Golf Club say the riders have been showing up regularly, cutting across the course, doing stunts and disrupting golfers. At least one encounter was captured on video.

The problem has become more than an occasional nuisance. Gulf Coast News reported that Cape Coral police confirmed five calls to the property for what the department classified as “juvenile problems” between Aug. 30 and Sept. 8.

Even repairs have not ended it. The club’s owner told the station Monday that damaged greens had already been replaced, while workers said the riders continued returning.

One employee, Zane Hayes, said he arrived at the course around 6 a.m. on one occasion and found riders traveling along the cart path before they began tearing up areas around the greens. He estimated the visits were happening at least once a week.

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Hayes also recorded video during a more recent encounter. He told Gulf Coast News that he initially expected the riders to leave but watched as they instead began doing donuts and disrupting people at the course.

The footage aired by the station shows riders moving around the property, including one pulling up the front wheel while riding.

Joseph Zummo, a ranger at Hunters Run, said attempts to confront the group did not get far.

“I tried to talk to them; they gave me the finger and stuff, no respect at all,” Zummo told the station.

The riders also showed up while other people were trying to play.

Zummo said a group returned during a league tournament, riding around tee boxes and greens in front of golfers.

Five Calls

By Sept. 8, police had received five calls from the golf course since Aug. 30, according to Gulf Coast News’ account of information provided by Cape Coral police.

The report did not identify any of the riders or indicate that anyone had been arrested or cited in connection with the incidents.

That has left workers dealing with the same problem while trying to protect a course people are actively using.

Club member Al Camp, who also serves as an officer in a golf league and lives along the course, told the station the repeated incidents were upsetting.

The owner told Gulf Coast News that, for now, his response is straightforward: keep calling police until one of the riders is caught.