Ball-bagging wolf puts bite on golfers

Aug 3 1990 By Ron Lewis

Hounslow on Friday, Aug 3

Worried golfers claim a ghost wolf is responsible for them losing all their balls.

They claim the shadowy beast stalks the fairways of Hounslow Heath Golf Course and steals golfer's balls.

And some fear the hound from hell may be the eerie ghost of the last wolf to be sighted in England which roamed the heath in the 1880s.

The animal, which has been spotted late in teh evening, just after the sun sets, filches the balls then runs for cover.

Golfer John Priceton-Smythe retold his encounter with the phantom ball-snatcher to Hounslow on Friday over a pint in a nearby pub.

He said: "It was late in teh evening and there were very few people left on the course.

"I was rushing my game and I thought I could get in just one more hole before it got dark.

"I teed off and hit the ball really well, straight down the middle of the fairway.

"But when I walked up to where my ball landed, I couldn't find it anywhere.

"Then I saw this shadowy dog-like creature walking away in the trees by the fairway."

John, who has an 18 handicap, was so startled by the gloomy brute that he dropped his clubs and ran to the safety of the 19th hole.

He said: "I went back the next morning to get my clubs, but they were gone as well. I can only assume that the monster came back and ate them."

A spokeswoman for Hounslow Council, which owns the course, said: "We are not aware of any roaming packs of wolves existing solely on a diet of golf balls from Hounslow Heath Golf Club."