Problems of getting Scots golfers back on course are far from insurmountable

It seems the biggest barrier to golf courses reopening is the issue of driving to and from the course. I understand the proposals for the return of golf being put forward to the government by the relevant golfing bodies address the issue of overcrowding in car parks, with rules about the timing of arrival for play, so the remaining concern is the risk associated with travelling for a non-essential purpose, albeit for exercise and general wellbeing. With three hours plus for a round of golf, the exercise time will always far outweigh the time spent travelling, which adheres to the current guidance on travelling to exercise. Both the further you travel and the increase in the volume of traffic heightens the risk of accidents, thereby increasing the risk of infection for the emergency services as well as taking up valuable hospital resources. This additional risk is very small and would be further reduced if we adopted the Irish plan to initially restrict golf to members living within a 5km radius of their home club.

Your writer Martin Dempster (4 May) wonders how this could be policed but the answer is surely very simple. The proposals for a return to golf referred to earlier state that golf will need to be prebooked online or by phone. This is presumably to prevent the ‘Snowdonia’ effect. I imagine all clubs have details of all their members, including home address. Clubs would be able to list all the members within a 5km radius and only they would be permitted to book. As a further security measure, golfers would be required to show their membership card, which is normal practice anyway, before teeing off and this would be checked against the 5km members list.

It may even be possible for all clubs to allow reciprocal arrangements for golfers to play, free of charge, on their nearest course, provided it is within 5km of their home, and their own course is more then 5km away. They could take up times not used by the host clubs members. They would still be required to book and would have to show proof of identity, home address and membership of own club before being allowed to tee off.

It may be that some concession could be made for golfers living in sparsely populated areas where driving a long distance to get to your club is the norm. I never imagined that one day I might have more difficulty driving to my home course than driving on it.

JOHN WANN

Greenbank Crescent, Edinburgh