Germany clamps down on clubs ignoring safety rules
● Some courses in the Berlin area have already been closed, just days after reopening, for not adhering to the strict guidelines
As golf courses start to reopen across Europe, the consequences of failing to follow strict guidelines aimed at delivering “safe golf” during the ongoing coronavirus have been highlighted in Germany.
The Scotsman has learned that some clubs in the Berlin area have already been closed, just days after reopening, due to not following the safety rules, while one in Bavaria has been hit with a €25,000 fine for opening without official permission.
Germany’s Chancellor Angelamerkelmetwithprimeministers of the various regions in the country yesterday to try to find a solution for sports, with Bundesliga football now set to return later this month.
However, some golf courses have already reopened after being closed en masse like UK courses due to the pandemic pandemonium.
“It’s pretty chaotic,” Petra Himmel, one of Germany’s leading golf writers, told The Scotsman. “The regulations at the moment countrywide are two persons per flight [tee time], but clubhouse regulations differ in each region.
“Each club is controlled by its local authorities, and a few clubs in the Berlin area had to close directly after they had the permission to open again, because they didn’t follow the security rules.
“All in all, the atmosphere in German golf is very heated up. Golfers are accusing the federations of being too lazy, federations are complaining about the fact that golf still seems to have a bad image in politics.” Markus Söder, the Prime Minister of Bavaria, announced earlier this week that clubs in that region will reopen on Monday, but at least one has paid the price for jumping the gun.
“One club in Bavaria opened on Tuesday and made it public before they were controlled by the police and have to pay a €25,000 fine for one day and every other day they open before getting their final opening permission on Monday,” added Himmel.
In Denmark, one of the first European countries to close its borders and schools, most courses only closed for a few weeks and safety rules are already starting to be relaxed.
“What happened here was that originally the federation recommended in mid-march that all clubs and courses closed,” said Henrik Knudsen, an editor/commentator for Viasat Golf.
“But some clubs – and especially privately-owned courses – felt that this was taking things too far. They could easily comply with all government regulationsandrecommendations and still play.
“All clubhouses and practice facilities were closed, but they let you play under certain circumstances. Rakes were removed, flags could not be touched and some places only allowed two-balls [and preferably with someone from your own household or your regular partner] and you had to leave as soon as you finished.
“Slowly these ‘rules’ have been relaxed, green fee players allowed, three and fourballs allowed, but still no rakes and flags can’t be touched [and some have the holes half filled with Styrofoam, so you don’t touch the edges].
“Initially, I had gone on TV and recommended that we followed the federation’s guidelines, but even they gave in, so now I am playing basically every other day. My club still has certain ‘Corona-rules’ – ie limited mats on the range, you can only have two tee times in the booking system due to high demand and you can only turn up ten minutes before your tee time etc.
“My personal thoughts are that it is a great relief for us golfers. We are encouraged to go for walks while keeping some distance – and golf is perfect for just that, especially as we have had great spring weather.
“When I initially supported the shutdown, it was simply to avoid the usual ‘golf seems to be above the rest of us’ attitude from non-golfers. Fortunately, these ‘voices’ soon went quiet as there were more obvious things to ‘attack’.”
In France, where the death toll from Covid-19 has been very similar to the UK’S over the past few weeks, courses are set to reopen on Monday.
“I really don’t know what to expect about this future new reality,” said Martin Coulomb, who writes for L’equipe.
“I’m sure the bad shots will still feel/look the same. But I don’t know about the general atmosphere. I don’t know if playing golf will be as easy/natural/relaxing as it used to be. The risk will always be there. I know golf officials in France are taking many concrete measures to limit the risk to its minimum. But it’ll always be in my mind.
“The other thing about golf in France is that “we” still don’t have very good press as