NATCHEZ — For the third summer in a row, vandals made their way on to Duncan Park’s golf course and damaged parts of the course with cars last week.

In two separate incidents, one on July 7 and the other early in the morning on July 10, vandals drove on to the course and trenched areas on holes six and 18, golf course superintendent Greg Brooking said.

On hole six it appeared that the suspects drove off John R. Junkin Dr. Thurs. July 7 in a truck, and climbed the hill to trench areas just off the sixth green, Brooking said.

Brooking said the vandals managed to get to the green on the 18th hole Sun. July 10, but the damage was minimized because it appeared to be done by a car instead of a truck.

“Twenty-two to 27,000 people come to this course each year,” Brooking said. “That’s who that vandal attacked. Those people don’t have the enjoyment now they would have without the damage. This person has stolen from all the tax payers in Natchez.”

Brooking said the 18th green is still being used for the regular recreational players but the damage is affecting their quality of play. The green will not be in playable condition, however, for Monday’s Norman Puckett MGA Natchez Junior Golf Championship, he said.

“We will probably set up a temporary green starting tomorrow,” Brooking said. “We will allow the members to play to the damaged green because they are just playing recreationally. But it wouldn’t be fair for the tournament, because we can’t let a child lose the tournament because of a tire track on the green.”

Brooking said he should have the 18th green fixed by the time the Natchez City Championship is scheduled to tee off August 6.

He said he has gotten complaints from approximately 50 Duncan Park regulars since the incidents.

“The regulars are beside themselves, they are livid over this,” Brooking said.

Many have donated money to help Brooking and his staff repair the damage.

One member has offered to put up $300 as a reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the culprits. The city added $200 to that reward to bring it up to $500, Mayor Jake Middleton said.

“We want the people of Natchez to see what’s going on out there,” Middleton said. “(The culprits) are just a bunch of juvenile delinquents that don’t have anything else to do, and they don’t realize what it costs to repair those greens.

“I surely hope it’s not adults, but whoever it is we’re going to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”

Middleton said Natchez detectives are investigating the incidents.

“(The detectives) have some leads,” he said. “There’s ways they have of figuring out things that you and I don’t know.”

Middleton said a major focus on protecting the course is to prevent vandals from getting on it in the future.

“We have got to beef up security measures, because there are ways to get into the park without coming through the front gate,” he said. “We are working on things as we speak.”

Brooking said he hopes the guilty parties are caught, but he would be happy to just prevent further incidents.

“We win if they never do it again,” he said. “We don’t even have to catch them, just never damage the park again.”

Brooking said he hopes the public will keep its eyes and ears open and notify authorities if they hear information related to last week’s vandalism or any future suspicious activity.