USGA Should Lobby Governors to Reopen Golf Courses

[JohnnyCashForever]

Instead of "relaxing" some of the rules of golf (see here)...which is tantamount to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, Here's one big way the USGA is relaxing its Rules to cope with the coronavirus

the USGA should ask governors to give golf courses a special dispensation to remain open. My course in PA had (almost comically) strict rules in place in anticipation of opening last Friday, but the governor closed down all non-life sustaining businesses. So one of the safest outdoor activities (golf) is shut down indefinitely.

If the USGA is as important as they claim to be, they should take the lead and make a case to the governors to allow courses to remain open or to reopen as long as the course has a Corona protocol in place to ensure the safety of the golfers and general public. For example, my course had limitations on the number of people allowed in the club house at any one time, it banned cash transactions, banned touching the flagstick, mandated social distancing on the course, closed the range, etc.

The virus is bad, but we cannot allow it to ruin our lives. It is not going away and will probably never go away. Until a vaccine and/or cure is discovered, the answer for now should be social distancing practiced at the individual level, washing our hands, and refraining from touching our face. The answer should not be a a ham-handed mandate from the government that effectively brings every activity, bad and good, to a halt with no end in sight.

 

[LeoLeo99]

No. The USGA has already acknowledged the raised cups and said those are valid rounds. We're doing what we can to keep some normalcy.

 

For the USGA to start lobbying to open the golf courses while other people are sick in hospitals is bad optics as they say. Yes, golf is very low on the risk index. It's also very low on the importance index. I think there will be some loosening of the "close down everything" rules in place in certain states but until then the USGA should stay out of politics.

[Z1ggy16]

I agree but it's sort of a slippery slope. Around me, all the parks and whatnot are closed, and so are golf shops and out door ranges. If a governor gives special exemption to a golf course (which a lot of people deem a waste of money and space as is) then he/she would have to allow parks to stay open with special rules and basically anything outdoors.

The whole point right now is to just keep people away from each other as much as possible. I think this will last for at least 2-4 weeks, then we'll slowly see things start to re-open because otherwise we'd be risking entire communities collapsing due to all the businesses shut down from loss of sales (unless the local/state governments plan to bail everybody out).

[GoIrish17]

In Ohio, the governor’s mandate included a statement that parks and outdoor recreation areas would remain open, and that people would be allowed to use them:

 

“5c. For outdoor activity. To engage in outdoor activity, provided the individuals comply with Social Distancing Requirements, as defined below, such as, by way of example and without limitation, walking, hiking, running, or biking. Individuals may go to public parks and open outdoor recreation areas.”

 

But, all of the municipal courses nearby have been closed for about a week .

 

I am not willing to go to battle arguing over the wording of this, and I understand the frivolity of discussing this at the moment. But, I’d be hard to convince that going out and walking 18 holes is going to be any more dangerous than my wife going for a run in a public park, assuming we are both taking the same precautions and taking the same steps to protect ourselves. Here in Ohio there is no clear answer currently how courses will be affected in the long term, and it is an area of great confusion in the short term. It seems (to me) that courses are generally erring on the side of closing until further notice, but some are planning on operating with special procedures in place around the clubhouse to address safety issues. I played yesterday with an assistant pro from a local country club, and he did not have any answers for how this was going to affect them. Though, to be fair, the order was only announced as we were playing (though it has been expected for some time, and I have to assume discussions had taken place). https://neohgolf.com/dewine-shutdown-order-unclear-for-golf-courses/

[GHIN n Juice]

Governors are in literal bidding wars with each other for medical equipment to make sure doctors can do their jobs without dying. They are trying to keep people from getting evicted as the economy tanks. They are trying to fill in for lack of a national plan. Opening golf courses is not a priority, and it shouldn’t be.

[Fuscinator]

Not playing golf won't ruin your life.

[Z1ggy16]

Ny governor just said to prepare for as long as a 9 month stay at home order lol. This is going to absolutely ruin the economy if it plays out that way.

RIP to golf 2020 for anybody in the northeast it seems. Minimum 3-4 months of this I'm guessing, best case.

I'm going to have a new born in a few months, this is pretty bad timing for us.

[Hawkeye77]

Political rallying calls for action last thing we need on here. Last I knew USGA wasn't an expert on public health and this forum really isn't the place to start some sort of campaign to get the USGA to do anything.