Family of body-onbeach man decide to leave him be
AGOLF pro has transformed a former driving range and golf course – bringing more than a dozen jobs to Anglesey – with plans to create more roles.
The Llangefni course closed in October 2018 after the local authority announced it was selling off the nine-hole facility as it was losing money.
But the driving range was reopened after the lease was taken over by coach and PGA professional Matthew Wharton following a tender for the facilities.
Mr Wharton, based in Llanllechid near Bethesda, who formerly worked at both the Treborth driving range and St Deiniol (Bangor) Golf Club, had big ambitions for the site.
This initially started with the driving range and building up the existing facility at the newly-named Golf Mon.
He then set about a nine-month redevelopment of the old golf shop – transforming it into a pizza restaurant – Popty Pizza.
This opened in proving a success.
He is now intent on ‘phase three’ of his plan – setting up an American
October and is style crazy golf course.
He said: “I have put everything into this – both time and money.
“We have worked hard to re-establish the driving range and the work we put in paid off. We then spent nine months on the restaurant, transforming the old shop.
“There was a lot of our own work that went into that as well as money to get it like it is.
“It includes some great touches like a former climbing wall from the Indy in Llanfair PG, which is now a bar.”
He added: “Everything we have done has been done well – we wanted to be selling the best pizza in North Wales, we have done it all properly.
“I had big ambitions and this is happening.
“It has worked because we are busy, we have lots of families and young people coming here because there is nothing like this in Llangefni. As well as the pizza we have craft for the site beer here too.”
The next stage is a circa £50,000 investment in a crazy golf course.
He said: “My long term ambition is that this is the most popular visitor site on Anglesey.
“Like with the restaurant we are doing it properly with a US-style crazy golf course.
“I’m a golf pro so I know what will work and how to do this well.”
This has seen the former empty site now employ 12 people with more jobs on the way.
Mr Wharton said: “We will have another four with the crazy golf and potentially more on the site in the future.”
He added: “When I presented for the tender they said my plans were ambitious which I think was why they went with me. I am making them happen.”
THE family of a man whose body was found on an Anglesey beach more than 35 years ago have decided he will remain buried on the island.
A walker made the grim discovery at Rhoscolyn in October 1983.
An inquest at Holyhead in January 1984 recorded an open verdict on the unidentified remains, which were buried in a cemetery at Menai Bridge.
But the inquest was resumed by North Wales senior coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones last week after fresh identification evidence came to light.
Two years ago, North Wales Police and the Garda in Ireland set up Operation Orchid to try to identify bodies found in the region.
Publicity in Ireland led to the family of Conor Whooley approaching the Garda.
Mr Jones said: “A DNA profile was received from a family member and this was matched to the profile in the database and was found to be that of Conor Whooley. He had been reported missing in August 1983 from Wicklow.
“Usually, I would go to the High Court and ask for an order to exhume the body and transfer jurisdiction to the Irish coroner to carry out an investigation.
“But Mr Whooley’s family have decided to leave him where he is and to place a gravestone in the cemetery.
“The original inquest therefore remains the same, that the cause of death could not be ascertained and the verdict is an open verdict.”
Mr Whooley was 24 when he went missing, and his family had no idea what had happened to him. His father died in 2015, never knowing what happened to his son.