Golfers angry with Ford over continuation of ban

Ontario alone in shutting courses amid third wave

If Greg Louth, the owner of Lake St. George Golf Club, had kept the television on any longer Thursday afternoon, he would have thrown an axe through it.

Louth, whose family has owned the course north of Orillia, Ont., since 1979, was watching Premier Doug Ford extend the province’s stay-at-home order until June 2 with a mix of anger and frustration. Once Ford began talking about his buddies,” that’s when Louth turned it off.

“What an absolutely ignorant, stupid statement,” Louth said. “I’m still sitting here stunned.”

Ford addressed golf specifically Thursday as he reiterated the government’s position on trying to limit mobility. And he alluded to friends who were being cavalier with golf’s existing COVID-19 protocols as a reason why he is keeping courses closed, despite 26 million rounds being played in Ontario in 2020 with no known cases of COVID-19 traced back to a golf facility.

“I talk to my buddies. I know what happens. You know, they pick up another buddy, two, or three. They go out, go golfing. And there’s nothing wrong with golfing,” Ford said. “The problem is the mobility. Then after golf, they go back, they have a few pops. That’s the problem. So that’s the issue.”

Ford’s folksy comment was met with disappointment from the golf community.

“Golf is undeniably safe and that is a credit to all the golf clubs and course operators who have implemented stringent protocols to create a safe recreational experience,” read a statement from We Are Golf, a group of golf stakeholders, including Golf Ontario. “To be clear: Mobility is absolutely not an issue with the sport and many other safe outdoor activities.”

Ontario remains the only jurisdiction in North America where golf courses are shuttered, and owners and operators say they are facing huge losses. May is the start of the summer season. One general manager at a course close to Toronto says he is losing about $10,000 per day in green-fee revenue.

The only people who now work at Lake St. George, a mom-and-pop, 27-hole facility, are Louth’s family members, all of whom live just minutes from the course. “And we’ve just felt every emotion you could have,” he said.

Other elected officials across the province are calling for outdoor recreation to be opened. Catherine Fife, the MPP for Waterloo, advocated for golf in the legislature on Wednesday, while the mayors of Mississauga, Aurora and Brampton came out in support of reopening. Two weeks ago, 16 city councillors in Ottawa signed a letter to the premier advocating for the same thing.

Earlier in the week, the Ontario Medical Association said, while it did support the extension of the lockdown, it did not get behind closing outdoor recreation.

“Doctors do prescribe reopening more outdoor recreational facilities such as golf courses and basketball and tennis courts to improve people’s physical and mental health,” a note distributed by the OMA on Wednesday read, in part.