Just days after golf courses were given the green light to reopen in Victoria following an easing of COVID-19 restrictions, Cranbourne Golf Club found itself the target of a vile anti-Semitic attack.
The south-east Melbourne club, founded in 1953 by members of the Jewish community after they were excluded by other elite clubs, was vandalised with offensive graffiti on Tuesday night – obscene images, homophobic slurs and Nazi Swastikas spray-painted across the turf in what 9News described as “a disturbing display of vandalism”.
The club’s general manager Cameron Mott said about half of the club’s 850 members were Jewish and the swastikas “felt very personal”. He said the vandals had also damaged a green, forcing the club to set up a temporary replacement hole while staff conducted repairs.
Mott condemned the act, calling it “extremely offensive and ignorant behaviour”.
Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dr Dvir Abramovich told ABC News the attack was “sickening and chilling”.
“This is not just graffiti on the ground – it is an attack on all of us,” he said.
“The vile stampede of neo-Nazi defacement that has defiled our city. If this hate spree continues, Melbourne will soon be known as the Swastika capital of Australia.”
Police are investigating the incident.
