VA golf course greens fees said embezzled

LOS ANGELES, May 30 (UPI) -- A nine-hole golf course at a Veterans Affairs hospital in California has been closed because of suspected embezzlement of greens fees.

VA officials say they are looking for an outside operator to handle the course, which was open to the public, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. The course has been closed since March 30.

As much as $200,000 may be missing, the Times said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Members of the Hillcrest Country Club created the par-3 course at the VA Medical Center in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles for the benefit of World War II vets. Terry Gray, a Vietnam veteran, restored the course in the 1990s, although the clubhouse is still a Quonset hut.

Ralph Tillman, who is in charge of the medical center's physical plant, said the course is still being used by patients at the medical center and veterans groups. But he said the medical center has no system at the moment to collect greens fees from the public.