THE Adventure Golf Course in Henley recorded £11,500 of lost income due to an issue with its card machine.
The facility in Mill Meadows is owned and operated by the town Council.
The course, which has been in operation since April 2022, uses a system run by Stripe where in-person payments are taken by a card reader connected to Adventure Golf.
On May 5, during a monthly check of payments, it was noticed that takings had dropped significantly and no in-person payments had been collected.
Town clerk, Sheridan Jacklin-Edward, along with communications manager Daisy Smith and finance manager Mercedes Monroy, found that the method of payment capture had been changed from “automatic” to “manual”.
This meant that when card payments were taken, they were recorded as successful but needed to be manually requested by a member of staff for the transaction to be valid.
If the payment was not requested within three days, it would be automatically refunded to the customer.
About 721 in-person payments were refunded, resulting in a loss of revenue of £11,539.93.
The town council will now review Adventure Golf payments weekly rather than monthly and the payment provider at the course has been changed from Stripe to SumUp, which Mr Jacklin-Edward said in his report is a “more reliable system”.
The 18-hole crazy golf-style attraction is on the site of the old putting green and cost the town council £270,000 to create.
It features large models of local landmarks, such as the town hall, Kenton Theatre and Henley Bridge and a miniature River Thames.
The course is now operating under summer hours, which means it is open seven days a week from 10am until late. But it will close in the event of heavy rain.
Tickets are free for children aged three and under, £5 for Henley residents, £7 for juniors aged four to 17, students and seniors and £9 for adults.