Golf courses are not usually the kind of place where you expect vandals, dyslexic or otherwise, to roam, but last week's defacement of a green at the Mid Ocean Club was shocking.

It is difficult to determine what the motivation was, but the fact that it occurred on the day Tiger Woods pulled out of the PGA Grand Slam scheduled at the course for October is not coincidental.

Now Bermuda faces the problem of trying to repair the damage before the tournament, but the whole Island's reputation has already been damaged.

That's unfair and wrong, and the individual or individuals responsible should be ashamed of themselves. Unfortunately, this is a crime that will not be solved, but if it is, the perpetrators should fee the full force of the law, plus, say, a year's hard labour – clipping gold course greens with nail clippers comes to mind.