Local golfers between Rock and a hard place
Fore who?
Supposedly Delaware residents only.
Fore what?
The need to enjoy the great outdoors at a favorite venue – a golf course.
In the age of gubernatorial stayat-home orders, of course, our usual April excursions to remember the peace, beauty and great frustrations of golf has to be put out to pasture, at least (gloved fingers crossed) for a little while.
Take this sad piece of reality directly from the Springfield Country Club website: “The health and well-being of our golfers and employees is our top priority. With that in mind, we have made the difficult decision to heed the recommendation of state officials by temporarily closing the golf shop and course, starting Monday, March 16.”
Paxon Hollow’s website carried a very similar message. Ditto a simple sign on the front door of the pro shop for Clayton Park’s par-3 course along the uprooted Route 322. Nary an answer of the phone was heard at the private Springhaven Country Club, either.
These courses on Saturday afternoon looked pristine.
Maybe that’s because nobody’s out there busily taking divots.
“We have to wait until the order’s lifted,” said Craig Schilpp, an employee of Glen Mills Schools and the Golf Course at Glen Mills for 34 years, moving from the formerly thriving school for courtadjudicated youth to the campus’ brand new golf club in 2000.
It hasn’t been opened for the past two weeks. But that doesn’t mean Schilpp isn’t staying busy.
“We’ve been aerating the course for a week-and-a-half now,” Schilpp said. But since March 16 up until at least the end of April, there will be no golf played at
Glen Mills. No students, either, of course.
It’s been a hell of a year on the sprawling Glen Mills campus.
Allegations of physical abuse of students and a Philadelphia Inquirer investigation of same moved the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to remove all of what had been a declining number of students in March, 2019. On April 8, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services revoked all of Glen Mills’ licenses for failure to comply with the state’s Human Services code and regulations.
“The school is still open, too,” Schilpp said, “they just don’t have any students.”
The school has been appealing, while sort of operating with a skeletal staff. It’s been tough.
In November, Schilpp said, the tornado touchdown in Thornbury Twp. carved up a portion of the course, knocking down what Schilpp described as 300 trees, and taking out the driving range altogether.
The course was repaired, but Schilpp said they were planning on getting to the since-closed driving range this month. They have the time, after all.
Meanwhile, only a short ride down I-95 South, there is a golf course actually setting up tee times.
That would be Rock Manor Golf Club, which isn’t the same Rock Manor at which you might have grown up hacking away.
Since 2008, Rock Manor went from a short (5,779 yards) and twisted city-run layout to a relatively lengthy 6,405 yards and part of the huge (about 150 courses nationally) Billy Casper management holdings.
It’s not that Rock Manor isn’t aware of the way the coronavirus has brought life around the globe almost to a standstill, it’s just that Delaware Gov. John Carney has made it possible to keep Rock Manor at least partially in business.
While the order released late last week restricts the number of people allowed to gather in one area and bans food service and the like, it does leave a window open for responsible ownership.
“We encourage everyone to prepay,” Rock Manor pro shop associate Wayne Smiley said Saturday. “We don’t want to do anything to jeopardize anyone, especially our guests.”
Smiley pointed out golfers can pre-pay for tee times on the course’s website. They can make purchases in the pro shop and employees will bring the products out to them.
“It’s getting a little lonely around the pro shop these days,” Smiley said with a laugh.
Any and all tee times are at about half the rate of normal times to leave more than enough space between groups of golfers, and, of course, those foursomes are expected to practice the sixfoot social distancing guidelines. Of course, there’s no gathering in the bar or restaurant at the club, which like every other bar and restaurant in the greater Eastern United States has been temporarily closed.
What’s more, all golfers at
The Rock have to walk. No carts, which apparently has caused some grumbling among the course’s members, most of whom are, well, not young.
What’s more, pay a visit to the website and you’ll see that only Delaware residents are invited to make tee times at The Rock. But Smiley admitted some dangerloving Pennsylvania golfers have been paying visits.
Police in Delaware might not be hanging around the parking lot as much as they are in Claymont – where Total Wine and More has been a haven for lowerDelco residents for years, but is now being treated as an out-ofbounds destination for we poor Pennsylvanians – but that doesn’t mean they won’t be there anytime soon.
After first checking IDs for anyone with a tee-time when they arrived, Smiley said, upon an order from the corporate office they no longer are doing that. But if a foursome shows up and sees police in the parking lot, they should be prepared to whip their driver’s licenses out of their green polyester pants.
PA people are sent on their merry way, though Smiley points out refunds for their pre-pay tee times are offered.
Either way, we’re all trying to be much more careful (aren’t we?), we’re all being more responsible (hello?) and certainly we’re all pretty much staying at home (GET ME OUTTA HERE!)...
Maybe next week I’ll dig out that Rock Manor gift card I’ve had for the last eight ... 10? ... years and head down the highway.
I’m sure I have my old Delaware license plate in the garage somewhere.