Cattle stampede closes golf club

The herd of Charolais and Limousin cattle broke into the grounds of Woodstock Golf Club outside Ennis early on Saturday morning and stampeded through the course, damaging 10 greens.
A club spokesperson yesterday said it was “total devastation” for staff, when they saw the damage for the first time on Saturday morning.
The spokesperson said: “For everyone connected to the club, it has been like as if someone died. There was a look of shock and horror on the members’ faces after they had seen what the cattle had done.”
He said that the course greenkeeper was out on the course at the 6th green at 6.30am on Saturday “when he saw one and then saw 40 animals coming at him”.
The closure of the course is expected to result in a loss of income for the golf club through the loss of green fees and also a loss of revenue at the adjoining Hotel Woodstock.
The club was yesterday awaiting assessment of the damage by representatives from the club’s insurance company.