Golf course stripped bare after bungling groundsman mistakes weed killer for water

The formerly luscious green hills of the 18-hole Haywards Heath Golf Club in West Sussex are now littered with brown patches.

The groundsman damaged the 11 holes after spraying the greenery with industrial-strength industrial-strength Gallup 360 - a systemic herbicide designed for the 'desiccation of grassland'.

Bare: The golf course at Haywards Heath is littered with brown patches

The fairways are normally sprayed with light weed killer, but on June 24 and 25, the turf was thoroughly watered with Gallup.

Labels on the Gallup product read: 'Suitable for use on industrial sites, paths, roadways and in amenity and forest areas.'

Club chairman Andy Plowright said: '"This was an unfortunate accident. The wrong spray was used and we are doing all we can to correct it.

'We have put in place a thorough set of operating procedures to make sure it cannot happen again.

'We have taken the best advice we can from the manufacturers of the product and the Sports Turf Research Institute - who are specialists in this type of thing.

'At the moment we are having to see how bad the damage is. Some small areas have been re-seeded already and we will continue to repair the damage over the coming months.

Blunder: The groundsman watered the fairways with an industrial-strength weed killer

'It is very sad as the course was in excellent condition.'

Members pay up to £1,100 a year to play on the 6,216-yard course, which opened in 1922.

A Haywards Heath member said today: 'I can't believe the level of incompetence.

'I pay over £1,000 a year to play here and that's a lot of money really, especially when you think about the credit crunch.

'I'm seriously thinking of cancelling my membership and playing elsewhere - even though I've got quite a few friends on the course.

'What's happened is just completely amateurish and frankly I think the golf club haven't taken it seriously enough.'

Another member added: 'I've been playing golf for more than 30 years and I've never known anything like it.

'We still have absolutely no idea how this happened and some of the holes won't be back to normal until next year. It's staggering.

'I hope they take this into account next time we have to pay up for our membership fees.'

Error: The green hills of the course are littered with brown patches