It was a morning just like any other at The Club at Venetian Bay in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The scenic course was waking up to the sunrise. In a few hours, Niños de México, a charity event, was set to take place. But as the sun brought its light on the stretched fairways, the greenkeepers were aghast to see a destruction never seen before. What looked like a few tire marks turned out to be one of the most expensive acts of golf course vandalism Volusia County has ever seen.

The incident occurred on Oct. 19, when, according to investigators, a 17-year-old student from Atlantic High School drove his truck on the second green of the course, spun donuts across the putting surface, and tore up roughly 7,000 square feet of turf. The damage is estimated to be over $160,000. The police nabbed him on Monday.

A costly affair for the Club, the damage was so extensive that crews had to pack the green with sand to keep the hole temporarily functional. According to reports, full restoration is not even possible until March or April 2026. The weather conditions will then be warm enough to replace the entire green with new sod.

When questioned by the officers, the teenager’s reply shocked everyone. He was bored. At 2:30 in the morning, the teenager had “nothing else to do.” So he decided to take his truck and cause six-figure damage to the course. A  friend of his recorded the entire incident on his phone as a souvenir. Unfortunately, that’s how the real break in the case came.

According to Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood, later the teenagers bragged about the incident to their friends. Those conversations trickled back to the authorities through social media and community murmurs. With the help of other witnesses, the police reached out to the 17-year-old and his friend, but to save themselves, they quickly deleted the footage. Eventually, the Digital Forensics Unit extracted data from their phone to recover the evidence. He has now been charged with criminal mischief, which is a second-degree felony.

“It’s definitely been extremely stressful the last few weeks,” Benjamin Herring, the course’s general manager, told WESH 2 News after the arrest. “It’s just nice that it’s finally concluded now and we can rebuild and move on.” The course is known for the 2010 Atlantic Sun Conference Women’s Golf Championship. It is also recognized as the Parade of Homes’ “Best Golf Course Community.”

But while this incident feels dramatic in its own, locals say it wasn’t entirely isolated. Residents in nearby Port Orange have reported recurring problems with teenagers. They often tear up grassy areas along Central Park Boulevard using their trucks. This points to a pattern of questionable teen behavior, not just in this area, but throughout the country.

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A growing pattern of golf course vandalism

Just early this July, Skenandoa Golf Club in New York woke up to a near-identical scene. Photos posted on Facebook by owner Michael Intartaglia showed that the course was ripped across the 9th fairway. Muddy tire tracks appeared throughout, damaging even the bunkers and the 8th green. “I’m literally sick to my stomach,” he wrote, with apparent helplessness.

This wasn’t the only incident in New York. In 2023, Valley View Golf Course reported teenagers riding dirt bikes and ATVs across greens and sand traps. Meanwhile, officials of Barker Brook Golf Club found an authorized vehicle abandoned in a pond.

These are the cases that have arisen over the years, especially after the pandemic. Most offenders are between 16 and 19 years old, and their motivation for causing such damage is the same. They’re usually bored and looking for some cheap thrills. Unfortunately, those ‘cheap thrills’ end up costing big for golf courses.