Many Florida courses prepared for closing under Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “stay at home” order when exemptions didn’t list golf, but a clarification cleared the way for continued play under strict social-distancing stipulations. The British Open and Wimbledon were cancelled while Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson considered a second challenge match for coronavirus relief, and Whitney Crouse, Co-Founder of Bobby Jones Links, penned an open letter urging the U.S. government to allow golf to be played amid the pandemic.
Here is C+RB‘s latest roundup and summary of club-related developments surrounding the pandemic that have recently been reported. Please send updates on what your property is doing that you would like to share with the C+RB community to [email protected].
All of C+RB’s daily updates on the coronavirus situation can be found at https://clubandresortbusiness.com/category/covid-19/.
—New England golfers are crossing state lines to play golf. On March 23, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker issued an emergency order that declared all non-essential businesses—including golf courses—to be closed until April 7. That date has been extended to May 4, the Milford Daily News reported.
Massachusetts is one of 12 states as of April 1 that does not permit golf during the non-essential business shutdown, the Daily News reported. As a result, some golfers are going to other states such as Rhode Island and Connecticut.
“Our members are going to Rhode Island to play because the Rhode Island courses are still open,” said Jack Negoshian, Head Golf Professional at Westborough Country Club.
According to Elaine Gebhardt, the Executive Director of the New England Golf Courses Association, while Gov. Baker’s ban is designed to keep out-of-state golfers out of Massachusetts, it is then encouraging golfers from Massachusetts to cross state lines to golf elsewhere, the Daily News reported.
“There are three states in New England where the golf courses are closed—Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts,” Gebhardt said. “And what that is causing is golfers in those states to cross state lines. So not only you got golfers crossing state lines, but when they are driving a distance, they are probably driving together to the golf courses so you have a merging of households and not maintaining the social separation, so we are in a tricky situation right now on where we stand across the states.”
While they are closed to the public, many Massachusetts golf courses are taking advantage of this time to use for course maintenance, the Daily News reported.
“Our golf course superintendent Mike Hightower is doing green aerification, so he is being aggressive on the maintenance part of it so when we do open [up again], the course will be in great shape,” Negoshian said. “That maintenance that usually disrupts play will be all done. We won’t have to be so aggressive with that in the spring portion anyway so he is taking advantage of the time with nobody on the course and do as much maintenance as he can.”
“This is a crucial time for our industry to get golfers’ attention, to sign up for leagues, for memberships, for events and outings,” Executive Director and CEO of Massachusetts Golf Association Jesse Menachem said. “We know that The Masters and other majors are being postponed, which also serve as an unofficial start to the year. For an industry that is already strapped for time and relying on weather, this adds to that burden. So course operators are going to feel it and private clubs will feel it as well, and it puts a damper to what we were looking forward to which was a strong season.”
—Golf in Florida is still allowed under the executive “stay at home” orders issued on April1 by Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and later by Gov. Ron DeSantis, The Florida Times-Union reported. Officials of both the city of Jacksonville and the state clarified the orders to indicate golf, under the social distancing mandated by federal, state and local standards, was permissible.
The North Florida PGA Section obtained the clarification from the Governor’s office with the requirement that all courses must either allow golfers the option of walking, or have one person per electric or gas-powered cart, with no exceptions, The Times-Union reported. Golf courses also have put into place stringent requirements that have eliminated food and beverage service, conducted as much business with credit card payments instead of cash and asked golfers to not touch the flagsticks or inside of the cups.
“Please continue your part and operate your facilities with exemplary practices and monitor your golfers to ensure they are using proper social distancing regardless of where they are on the property,” said the North Florida section, in a directive to member clubs.
Florida is one of 36 states that still allow golf to be played during the current coronavirus pandemic.
Lee County commissioners had an emergency meeting April 1 but did not discuss golf courses, the Daily News reported. Collier County commissioners meet March 27 and stopped short of mandating nonessential businesses close. There are 90 golf courses in Collier County and between 50 and 60 in Lee.
Sumter County, where The Villages, a huge retirement community with dozens of golf courses, issued a stay-at-home order March 31, but listed golf as permissible. A county administrator responded to an e-mail by The Associated Press following DeSantis’ order, saying it “is not an exhaustive list of what is allowed but provides examples of those activities that would be consistent with social distancing as part of essential recreational activities. Golfing provides the same opportunity within the Governor’s executive order for social distancing, particularly in the manner in which the golf courses are managing the process (such as one golfer per rented cart).”
The Florida Chapter of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America stated on Twitter that its golf course maintenance workers can remain working, citing a page in the order under “Public Works and Infrastructure” even if golf was not specifically referred to in DeSantis’ order.
Fourteen states have closed their golf courses because of COVID-19. According to GolfAdvisor.com, 37.1 percent of U.S. golf courses have closed.
—Many golf course communities in Southwest Florida and elsewhere had been using such social-distancing measures such as canceling all tournaments, allowing only one person per cart when possible, and not allowing players to remove pins. Rakes also had been removed from sand traps.
DeSantis’ order comes during the high season for golf courses where they make most of their revenue. Seasonal residents are routinely in the area from November, with some arriving in January, and many going back north by Easter or sometime in May. For example, City of Fort Myers Director of Golf Rich Lamb, who oversees both Fort Myers Country Club and Eastwood Golf Course, had previously estimated around 70 percent of a year’s revenue comes during those months.
According to a 2015 Florida Golf Economic Impact Study, there were 1,103 courses and 524 golf communities in the state. According to the study done in 2013, direct golf economy was approximately $8.2 billion, behind hotels and motels ($14.2 billion) and agricultural products ($8.3 billion). Florida’s golf industry supported approximately $11 billion of total economic impact, over 132,000 jobs, and $3.6 billion of wage income in 2013.
—Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties in Florida can remain open because of the governor’s exemption, the Treasure Coast Palm reported. Many course operators thought they would have to close when the order goes into effect at midnight April 2 because it mentioned exemptions for “outdoor recreational activities such as walking, biking, hunting, boating and fishing,” but didn’t include golf.
“We all were under the assumption we were done by the end of [Thursday],” Brett Burton, Head Professional at Heritage Ridge Golf Club in Hobe Sound, said.
They can continue to play a sport that lends itself to social distancing, with courses taking safeguards such as keeping the pins in and removing rakes to prevent the spread.
Golf courses in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties had shut down in the last two weeks, the TC Palm reported. After the closing of Palm Beach County courses last week, several Martin County courses saw a surge in business as golfers drove to the north.
That caused several clubs to continue making restrictions. At Palm Cove Golf Club in Palm City on April 1, for instance, play was limited to golfers who live in Martin, St. Lucie or Indian River counties, the TC Palm reported. Not only are clubs trying to take care of their locals, but they don’t want golfers coming from areas where more people have tested positive for coronavirus.
—With California under a mandatory stay-at-home order to slow the further spread of the coronavirus, golf courses have closed throughout the Bay Area, San Diego and Fresno, The Sacramento Bee reported. But in Sacramento, they remain open. Although golf was not mentioned in the county’s March 19 stay-at-home order, Sacramento County Health Director Peter Beilenson told Morton Golf, which operates the city courses, that the sport is considered an “essential activity” in the county, said Grace Nunez, a city spokeswoman.
The four city of Sacramento courses remain open: William Land Golf Course, Haggin Oaks, Bing Maloney Golf Complex and Bartley Cavanaugh Golf Course, The Bee reported. The three county courses are also open: Ancil Hoffman Golf Course, Mather Golf Course and Cherry Island Golf Course.
To prevent the spread of the virus, the city courses are not renting clubs; have closed all onsite restaurants; are only allowing one person per golf cart; removed tables and chairs; supplied staff with gloves and hand sanitizer; are urging social distancing; and have increased cleaning of “high-touch” areas such as basket handles, Nunez said in an e-mail to The Bee.
For the county courses, staff also limit the golf carts to one person, are frequently sanitizing surfaces and are urging golfers to wash their hands frequently and practice social distancing, said Janna Haynes, county spokeswoman, The Bee reported. In addition, rakes for sand traps and ball washers have been removed or closed, and flag sticks removed, course officials said.
Mike Woods, the PGA Director of Golf at Haggin Oaks, told The Bee most people are following the rules.
“We’ve found that 95 percent of people are into this and it resonates,” Woods said. “People want to do the right thing in spacing because they want to keep golfing.”
When crowds start to form, there’s a firm reminder. “We say, ‘Hey, six feet apart if we want to stay open,’ and people want to stay open,” Woods said.
“People want to golf, need to golf, so the walls don’t close in on them at home,” Woods said. “When this is all over, I’m thinking of branding that – Golf is an essential exercise.”
—Whitney Crouse, Co-Founder of Bobby Jones Links, penned an open letter to the U.S. government titled, “Let Golf Go On. It’s a Walk in the Park.”
Across the country and the world, people are facing an unprecedented situation in terms of personal and economic wellbeing with the coronavirus pandemic. Bobby Jones Links supports efforts to #flattenthecurve and recognize that this is critical to our path forward. As golf industry professionals, we also recognize that the game of golf is uniquely positioned to offer people a safe way to get out, exercise and commune with nature while securely practicing social distancing.
We understand there are many things we can’t do now for the greater good of all of us, but golf does not have to be one of them.
With the proper precautions, golf can be as safe as a walk in the park. In addition to following the CDC’s guidelines, here’s how we can do it:
• Golf course check-in can now be done by phone or online. This was coming; now it’s a standard operating procedure. There’s no need to go in a golf shop or clubhouse.
• Our clubhouses are closed, except for our restrooms, which are sanitized and allow one person at a time to use them.
• We’ve removed all the sand trap rakes, ball washers, and water coolers. There’s no common points of contact on a golf course anymore.
• We play with the flagsticks remaining in the hole. Golf cups are inverted or less shallow so when picking the ball out of the hole, the golfer touches nothing but his or her golf ball.
• Our range balls are washed in bleach solutions or similar type of disinfectant. They come clean to the customer. The distance between range tee stations has also been increased.
• Our customers can bring their own snacks and beverages onto the course.
• We are spacing out our tee times, so groups don’t form on the course or on the first tee.
• We are encouraging only one golfer to ride in a cart at a time.
Through these best practices, now a member or customer can go from their car, to the first tee, with the option of walking the course, if they don’t want to take a sanitized cart, never touching anything unsafe – all while keeping six feet from other golfers.
That makes golf as safe as a walk in the park. That keeps many people employed. That maintains the well-being of many of our citizens.
Let golf go on.
Respectfully,
Whitney Crouse
Co-Founder of Bobby Jones Links
—Even if the coronavirus pandemic wipes out rest of qualifying events, Europe’s captain Padraig Harrington is lobbying for the Ryder Cup to be played.
“We’re playing on, if at all possible, because the merit of getting out there and showcasing our sport far outweighs a perfect qualifying system,” Harrington told London’s Daily Mail. “It wouldn’t worry me if we were the first tournament back and I had to go with 12 picks, with no qualifying. In many ways, it would be perfect if the Ryder Cup was the first tournament back. Just 12 guys from Europe and 12 from America, with no prize money at stake and competing just for the glory. Wouldn’t that be a nice way for sport to start back?”
The Ryder Cup is scheduled for September 25-27 at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis.
—The R&A is expected to cancel the 2020 Open Championship, multiple sources told Golf Digest. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about the cancellation publicly.
The decision, which could be announced as early as April 2, comes after the All England Club canceled the Wimbledon tennis tournament (scheduled for June 29) on April 1. Sources told Golf Digest last week the R&A was awaiting the decision on Wimbledon before proceeding.
In light of media speculation, the R&A issued a statement April 2 to clarify the position regarding The 149th Open.
Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “We are continuing to work through our options for The Open this year, including postponement. Due to a range of external factors, that process is taking some time to resolve. We are well aware of the importance of being able to give clear guidance to fans, players and everyone involved and are working to resolve this as soon as we can. We will give a further update as soon as we are in a position to do so and thank everyone for their support and understanding in this challenging situation.”
The Open was set to be contested starting July 16 at Royal St. George’s Golf Club, which would have hosted its 15th Open and first since 2011. The last time the Open wasn’t played was in 1945 because of World War II, Golf Digest reported. Part of the reason the championship is being canceled rather than postponed like the Masters and PGA Championship has to do with insurance, a source says. Similar to Wimbledon, the R&A has a policy that shields against a global pandemic, and a source indicated the Open would have to cancel by a certain date in order to collect on its insurance premium.
“The R&A is the most [insured] of all the tournaments,” a source said. “They have complete cancellation insurance. I just don’t see any golf [being played] before August.”
It is not expected the R&A would return to Royal St. George’s in 2021 and instead would stick to its rota schedule, Golf Digest reported. The Old Course at St. Andrews is slated to host the Open in 2021, with Royal Liverpool on the docket for 2022 and Royal Troon in 2023.
Wimbledon was scheduled to be played from June 29 to July 12. Instead, the next edition of the tournament will be June 28 to July 11, 2021.
“It has weighed heavily on our minds that the staging of The Championships has only been interrupted previously by World Wars,” club chairman Ian Hewitt said in a press release, “but, following thorough and extensive consideration of all scenarios, we believe that it is a measure of this global crisis that it is ultimately the right decision to cancel this year’s Championships, and instead concentrate on how we can use the breadth of Wimbledon’s resources to help those in our local communities and beyond.”
As of now, the U.S. Open is still scheduled to be played in New York from Aug. 31 to Sept. 13.
—A Tiger Woods–Phil Mickelson match that would include other players has been in the works for some time, but the coronavirus pandemic has put scheduling such an event on hold and it has yet to receive PGA Tour approval, ESPN reported. Mickelson acknowledged the possibility on Twitter when he responded to a user pining for a Tiger-Phil matchup during social distancing by saying, “Working on it.”
But Mickelson appears to have been referring to a second version of “The Match” that took place in November 2018, when Mickelson won $9 million in a “winner-take-all” event in Las Vegas, ESPN reported. A new encounter was to include other players, and various outlets such as CNBC and Golf.com have reported Peyton Manning and Tom Brady as the other participants. CNBC said that “match is on and could happen in May,” with the idea of raising money for coronavirus relief. It would be televised on one of the WarnerMedia company outlets such as Turner Sports’ TNT.
“Discussions along these lines have been ongoing for quite some time, but nothing has been approved by the Tour,” the tour said in a statement April 1.
An event such as this would need PGA Tour sanctioning, as the tour controls players’ media and television rights, ESPN reported. That is why, for example, a player needs a release from the PGA Tour to play a conflicting event, such as in Europe.
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