Hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of machinery, equipment and building were just minutes away from going up in smoke after an arson attack on Whangarei's Pines Golf Club.
The Parua Bay golf course was hit by early morning vandalism yesterday, before the vandals used green flags to start a fire that was just minutes away from taking hold of the club's greenkeeper's shed, clubhouse manager Ben Atherton said.
He said several greens at the club had been damaged by vandals using the green flags and when greenkeeper Mike Valiant turned up for work just before 7am yesterday he noticed that his large shed - between the eighth hole and the ninth tee - was ablaze.
The vandals had used the green flags to start a fire behind the shed that had spread inside.
Mr Atherton said the Onerahi volunteer fire party arrived within 15 minutes and the prompt response prevented the shed and its contents from going up in smoke.