An Aberdeenshire golf club has hit out at dog walkers who interrupt game play and allow their pets to foul on the greens.
Members of Ellon’s McDonald Golf Club said a “minority” of people have been invading the greens whilst golfers tee-off, causing hold-ups on the course.
They claimed dog walkers were allowing their pets to foul on the greens, particularly around the ninth hole, and called for them to take more responsibility.
Vice-chairman of the club, Iain Campbell, called for people to adhere to the access code – adding many dog walkers who did “scoop up” were merely depositing the waste into regular bins, which they have to empty.
He said: “The vast majority of dog owners and walkers are not a problem. However, over the last few years there is a growing minority of dog owners and dog walkers who are ignoring such responsibilities and the evidence is often come across as you are playing the back nine.
“This problem is not confined to the golf course as I have seen cricketers having to pick up mess before or during a match in Gordon Park.”
He added: “Some walkers are also a problem – again we have a few who, like the dog owners, persist in walking up the middle of the fairways rather than sticking to the paths in McDonald Park.”
Mr Campbell said some people were often “deliberately delaying golfers from teeing off or taking their shot”.
However Lynn Gilbert, chairwoman of the Friends of McDonald Park, said there was more often than not a mutual respect between the golfers and walkers at the course – which forms part of the wider park site.
She added: “I don’t think dog fouling is a big problem. Most people do clear-up after their dogs.
“And most people have courtesy, you’ll obviously get a few people that don’t. I go along there twice a day, I don’t see it as a huge problem. I
“I think golfers have to be courteous to people who are walking also. The area doesn’t belong to the golf club, it belong to the people of Ellon, the whole of that area belongs to everyone. I think you just have to respect each other.”