Ground staff at one of the Island's premier golf courses are now in a frantic race against the clock to repair a malicious act of vandalism weeks before hosting the PGA Grand Slam of Golf.

It is understood Police are continuing their investigation into the defacing of the 13th green at the Mid Ocean Club that occurred last Wednesday night in what could be interpreted as an apparent attempt to sabotage next month's golf spectacle at the plush Smith's parish golf course.

According to Mid Ocean superintendent Norman Furtado, careless vandals poured an unidentified substance on the green. And he now fears large letters that were singed into the turf may still be visible when some of the world's top golfers tee off at Mid Ocean Club on October 15.

We will try our best to camouflage it and it could be green before the tournament starts. But from my experience I have a feeling you may still see the letters (qlq) because the grass coming up will be younger and darker than the existing green. So unfortunately it may be still visible," Mr. Furtado told The Royal Gazette "It's very disappointing someone would do something like this knowing fully well we are going to be hosting a major event in Bermuda that is going to benefit Bermuda. It's totally beyond my comprehension."

Mr. Furtado is among those baffled as to the why anyone would want to commit such an act, but acknowledges the fact things could've been far worse.

"Had it been herbicide, it could've killed the grass completely. But it appears to be some sort of aerosol spray that has singed the top of the grass but not necessarily killed the whole plant because there's still a lot of green growth below," he said, "What we have done is applied a product (charcoal) which will neutralise any chemical that was in there. This is definitely a deliberate act but I am bit happier that it hasn't killed all of the grass and that we should have a smooth putting surface although you may still see the letters. There is some green growth there that will hopefully take over in due time which, unfortunately, we don't have much of."

Mid Ocean Club is set to host this year's PGA Grand Slam of Golf event October 15 to 17, which will see Masters champion Zach Johnson, US Open winner Angel Cabrera, British Open champion Padraig Harrington as well as the world's third-ranked player Jim Furyk.

Furyk was a late replacement for PGA Champion Tiger Woods who withdrew last week from next month's event.

In the aftermath of the vandalism, Mid Ocean Club vice president David Ezekiel said security at the facility has been beefed up and nearby residents urged to report any suspicious activity. "Security-wise we have had to step it up in terms of people patrolling. It is very difficult to police every green on a course so easily accessible. "But we now have people doing the rounds and have asked others to alert us if they see any suspicious happening around the grounds," Mr. Ezekiel added.

"We have a team here that have worked very hard to get the course ready for this event and we are hopeful that we can bring it back in time. They (ground staff) got to it early and diluted it and in a couple of days the reaction of the grass will tell them what type of remedial action to take from there.

"At the moment the green is unsightly but still playable. It really doesn't impact the playing ability of the green as much as the ball actually rolls pretty much the way it would anyway.

"But we will do whatever we can cosmetically do get it right and if we have to colour it then that is certainly something we will have to look at."

Senior local golfer Kim Swan, meanwhile, scolded those responsible for defacing one of the Island's top golf courses. "There's no motivation in my opinion that can justify malicious damage of one of Bermuda most celebrated facilities and I think it's intolerable and deplorable," he said.

"Bermudians right across the board need to appreciate the fact that any malicious damage to a facility that is going to host a world televised event is damaging and certainly not the right thing to do. And we hope persons will detract from defacing properties as such.

"This is certainly very disturbing and what I am now appealing for is for common sense to prevail because it is very important that we appreciate this event and other events of this magnitude that will showcase Bermuda under the world microscope in a positive light."