Four carts stolen from Old Hickory Golf Course

Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Four carts similar to these were stolen from Old Hickory Golf Course north of Greencastle between Sunday evening and Monday morning. Besides their unique burnt orange color, the carts can also be identified by bearing the name of the course on both the front nameplate and on the rear canopy.
Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN

The owners of Old Hickory Golf Course are seeking the public’s help in locating four golf carts stolen from the course earlier this week.

At some point between when owner Ron Crain locked up around 6:30 p.m. Sunday and when he returned to open the course on Monday, the chain on the gate was cut and four carts disappeared.

As Crain walked up to the gate, he noticed the chain and lock were missing, with a cut link lying on the ground.

“Then I saw the carts missing,” Crain said.

The Crains notified Putnam County Dispatch and Deputy Matt Biggs was called to the scene at the public golf course west of U.S. 231 north of Greencastle.

As Ron and wife Rhonda awaited the arrival of police, one of the course members showed up, ready to play a round. Instead, the Crains sent him out on their turf car to see if he could find the carts or any trace of them. They even thought that perhaps the perpetrators were vandals who had driven the carts into the pond.

However, no trace of the carts was located.

Crain provided Biggs with the serial numbers of the missing carts, as well as their unique description. Besides bearing the name “Old Hickory Golf Course” on both a front nameplate and embroidered on the rear canopy, there is also their unique color of these Club Car carts — burnt orange.

The Crains and police are hopeful that their unique color will help identify the vehicles.

“You don’t see many that color,” Rhonda Crain said.

While most of the neighbors of the golf course report seeing nothing on the night of the incident, neighbors to the south told the Crains they were walking their dog before dusk when they saw four golf carts heading down the fairway. They thought nothing of it at the time, though in hindsight it was a bit late for the carts to be out.

“We try to have all of them in before dark for that reason,” Rhonda Crain said. “We don’t have carts out that late anyway.”

The only access to the course to the west is across a dam onto adjoining property. With no signs of carts having gone over the dam, the Crains assume the suspects somehow initially traveled along U.S. 231.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time the course has been victimized. A couple of months back, Ron Crain arrived in his shop to find it had been broken into. He found two guns missing, as well as a spool of wire and a tool bag set up as if someone was ready to take them as well before getting spooked by something.

On that evening, Crain noticed some people lingering in the parking lot whom he now suspects.

“There was some individuals in the parking lot when I left that afternoon,” he recalls. “They were young people and I suspect they were the ones.”

No one was caught in that incident, though the Crains suspect there may be a connection.

In the end, what might bother them the most — besides losing four carts valued at $5,500 when they were new — is the lack of respect for someone’s property.

“We work from sun-up to sundown every day,” Ron Crain said, “trying to make the place go and make it a nice place for people to play. And people just think they can help themselves.”

“We’re sickened by the whole thing,” Rhonda Crain added.

Anyone with possible information about the missing Old Hickory carts is encouraged to call Putnam County Dispatch at 653-5115, ext. 0.

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