New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
CSGA set to open season
It’s taken some time and some adjustments to its schedule, but the Connecticut State Golf Association is ready to begin its tournament competition this week.
The 118th State Amateur will be played June 22-25 at Shorehaven Golf Club in Norwalk. The first qualifier for that event will be Tuesday at Oronoque CC in Stratford. This is the first statewide golf competition — and likely the first tournament competition since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“We’ve believed all along that you can play golf safely during this pandemic,” said Mike Moraghan, the executive director of the CSGA. “Golf lends itself naturally for social distancing. That is the key. Every medical expert has said from day one it is essential to maintain social distancing and eliminate all those common touch points where the virus might live.”
There were two other Amateur qualifiers scheduled in May, but the ones at Lyman Orchards GC and Great Neck CC are now scheduled for June 10 and 11, respectively.
Said Oronoque CC general manager Tommy Miller: “We think it’s a good first step to normalcy. I feel like as a property we are ready to handle the regulations. We haven’t had any tournament play yet. By this time would have had eight or nine (club) events. It will be nice to be wake up, come in at 6:30 in the morning and have tee times ready to go.”
There won’t be much change on the course for the 68 entrants. No golfers can touch the flagsticks. There are no rakes in the bunkers. There will be no caddies or spectators. Golfers can either walk or ride a cart by himself.
At the actual Amateur, players will have to walk. No caddies will be allowed there either.
Miller said each of the pins at Oronoque CC has a lever that golfers can flick so the ball automatically pops up. Moraghan said a
ball that lands in an unraked portion of a bunker, it could be treated as ground under repair, resulting in a drop without penalty.
Normally, players would receive a scorecard, a sheet with hole locations and a pencil on the first tee. Tees, ball markers, bug spray, maybe refreshments, would all be available there.
Not on Tuesday. “All that goes away,” Moraghan said.
Players will instead keep an opponent’s scores on their phone. When they finish, they will all stand near the scorer’s area and players will read the scores on each hole to a member of the CSGA staff, who will log it online — all with everyone social distancing.
There will be no scoreboard present, so golfers will have to view online who shot what and who qualified for the Amateur.
Moraghan noted that limited numbers will be allowed at a time to Oronoque CC’s practice areas. Masks need to be worn in the clubhouse and in areas where social distancing is not possible. But they are not required while playing.
Tee times off the first tee are in 10-minute intervals.
Miller reiterated, it’s a chance for the golfers — and the club — to take a step toward some normalcy.
“The hardest thing about the whole situation in a country club atmosphere is you are programmed to say yes and want to help people, but safety is so paramount, sometimes you have to say no,” Miller said. “(The pandemic) has definitely changed the mindset for sure.”
NEW ENGLAND JUNIOR CANCELED
Connecticut will have to wait another year to try for the threepeat as New England Junior champions.
The New England Golf Association canceled the 51st New England Junior on Friday due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was scheduled for Aug. 11-12 at Ledgemont CC in Seekonk, Mass.
Connecticut won last year’s 54-hole invitational tournament by 17 strokes over Massachusetts at Mill River CC in Stratford. The tournament is scheduled to be held in Maine in 2021.
The New England Amateur is still on as scheduled, July 21-23 at Concord CC in Concord, Mass. The entry deadline is Thursday at 5 p.m.