Golf adapts to physical distancing
Players at Whisky Run keeping two club lengths apart
After weeks of crummy weather, including an unseasonal snow flurry in May, it seems Mother Nature was willing to co-operate just in time for some long-weekend golf.
“It really was amazing timing, after all that waiting, to have perfect weather for the opening weekend,” said Luke Nieuwland, who had to scramble to get Whisky Run Golf Club in Port Colborne open with the mere two days’ notice given by the province. “We had the whole team running around pretty much non-stop for those two days.”
The biggest issue was getting up all the barriers and signage that helps enforce, and remind, people to maintain their physical distance of six feet (about two metres) — or two club lengths — apart.
The club then had to get creative with how it solved some of the other problems. Guidelines from the province indicated clubs should find a way to prevent golfers from having to reach into the cup to retrieve their ball at the end of each hole. That way people aren’t continually touching the same surface.
“We saw some crazy contraptions for solving that one, like this device that attached to the putter to lift the ball out, but we ended up going with the pool noodle solution,” said Nieuwland, who got the idea after a member sent him a video of a club from Florida that was using pool noodles stuffed into the holes.
The extra bit of material inside the cup prevents the ball from dropping down into the hole, so golfers can still putt while easily retrieving their ball.
With perfect weather over the Victoria Day weekend, the club was packed, but Nieuwland said the course stuck to spaced-out tee times to give everyone a little distance between one another on the course.
“We were fully booked, every tee time from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., we even had to turn about a dozen people away,” said Nieuwland, who noted mandatory tee times are also the new normal to prevent unnecessary buildup on the opening holes.
The carts also posed a challenge. To maintain distancing, only one person is allowed on a cart, unless they are two people who already live in the same household.
“I’ve now got someone who is pretty much cleaning the carts as a full-time job,” said Nieuwland, who pointed out every cart has to be completely wiped down with sanitizer once it’s brought back to the clubhouse.
Golfers at Port Colborne Country Club are being encouraged to walk if they are able, deferring carts to those who really need them since they are in short supply.
The club is taking a zero-tolerance approach to the new rules.
“Regardless of what your personal feelings are about this virus, it is vitally important that we create an extremely safe environment for our members,” general manager Tom Vanderlip wrote to members.
Like other courses, Port Colborne Country Club is not allowing walkons, has no access to the clubhouse and is asking golfers to arrive no more than 15 minutes before their tee time.
The club has also switched to an online ordering system for food and drink.