Mr Evans added: “The initial thoughts were a little bit of anger and then just astonishment that someone can cause that much damage.

“Just mindless damage to what is effectively a natural environment is just awful.

“Maintaining the surface and caring for fine turf is an art. We employ greenkeepers and now they’ve got the unenviable task of trying to recover those areas, trying to make them fit for play.

“There has been vandalism on the golf course before with motorbikes but certainly not to this extent.”

He said a group of members had helped clear some of the debris, but it was “too early” to say how much money it would cost to repair the damage.

The club’s website, external said the course was open but holes three to seven, and 16, were closed due to “extensive vandalism of the greens”.

Essex Police said damage estimated at “thousands of pounds” was caused in the incident and it appealed for information.