Published: Friday, 29th August, 2008 8:40am

£12k golf shop theft drives club pro green with anger

ABOUT £12,000 worth of equipment was snatched in a midnight raid at Gullane Golf Club professional"s shop - in what club officials believe was a carefully planned and prepared theft.

Approximately 60 top-of-the-range golf "drivers", valued at approximately £200 each, were stolen.

Police are hunting three males who were spotted by witnesses at the time of the robbery, carried out at about 12.30am last Thursday at West Links.

The theft has stunned Gullane Golf Club PGA professional Alasdair Good, who joined the club in 2003.

He told the Courier: 'I"m absolutely devastated.

'Quite often (when I"m called out) it"s just a false alarm so when I arrived to find police cars and saw the damage I got quite a shock.'

It"s understood that the culprits made three attempts to break into the shop before they were successful, causing extensive damage to the premises" front entrance and windows.

Although the shop security alarm activated when the thieves entered, they were able to escape with the stolen goods before police arrived.

Mr Good is convinced that those responsible had previous knowledge of the shop"s stock, and broke in with the sole aim of stealing the most expensive clubs in stock - all drivers made by manufacturers such as Mizuno and Calloway.

'I don"t need any policeman to tell me that they knew exactly what they were looking for,' he said.

'They were specific about taking the latest items that could easily be sold on.

'It"s very frustrating to imagine that customers come in and we give them the very best and courteous service only for one of them to have been "casing the joint",' he added.

The damaged shop entrance has now been repaired and additional security measures are set to be put in place - including the likely installation of CCTV cameras.

While the stolen items are covered by insurance, Mr Good admitted that there would be still be financial repercussions as a result of the theft.

He explained: 'We will have to cover the costs of increasing security and our insurance premiums are likely to be hit.

'People have been really surprised that in a sleepy little village like Gullane people have to take such extreme measures to protect their property.

'This is just an unfortunate sign of the times.'

Police suspect that a silver hatchback-type car was used in the robbery, and have appealed for anyone who may have noticed any suspicious activity at the time to come forward.

'The vehicle is described as having a very loud exhaust and possibly five doors,' said a police spokesman.