Playing
Through
BOTH IN VIRGINIA AND AROUND THE
WORLD, GOLF FINDS WAYS TO COPE
DURING THE COVID-19 EPIDEMIC
by CHRIS LANG
On
A WARM, SUNNY FRIDAY AFTERNOON
in late March, Independence Golf Club
director of golf Elliott Wilson sat on the
steps outside the club’s pro shop, checking
players in. In all, he said, there were more
than 120 players on the tee sheet that day.
Business as normal on an 85-degree spring
day, it seemed.
“How busy has the golf course been?”
Independence president Giff Breed said.
“Really, it’s like nothing has even happened.”
If only that were true.
The novel coronavirus has changed just
about every aspect of daily life in Virginia.
On March 30, Virginia governor Ralph
Northam signed an executive order directing
all Virginians to stay at home as much
as possible—save for a few exceptions—
through June 10. Among those exceptions:
The ability to go outside for exercise as
long as citizens could follow social distancing
guidelines put forth by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
Golf, at its heart, is a solitary game. No
one but the player needs to touch his or her
equipment. Sure, there are team competitions
and four-ball tournaments featuring
partners. But the ability to get outside,
away from others, and walk nine holes in
the late afternoon, has always been cherished
by golf purists.
Not all courses in Virginia remained
open during the COVID-19 crisis. Some
voluntarily chose to close. Others closed
due to mandates of local government, such
as the Fairfax County Parks Authority’s
courses and municipal, city-run courses in
Harrisonburg and Charlottesville.
Leadership at courses that have
remained open leaned on advice from state
and federal government officials in making
their decisions to continue to allow play.
“We chose to stay open to provide a safe
environment for members, golfers and
guests to come and enjoy clean, fresh air
while getting exercise and enjoying the
game of golf,” said Adam Engley, general
manager of Bowling Green Country Club
in Front Royal. “I felt it was important to
help provide a safe outlet for people to get
out of their houses and get away from all of
the news and negativity.”
Golf has always been an escape, and that’s
true even more during challenging times.
And golf allows a mix of exercise and social
distancing unmatched in many sports.
During an 18-hole round, a player can cover
nearly eight miles, exercise that can become
considerably more strenuous when carrying
your clubs on your back. Staying six feet
away from others is easy on a wide-open
course. Clubs across the state have had
those social-distancing guidelines in mind
when setting their own standards for play.
For those that remained open, some of
the protocols in place to eliminate common
touchpoints included:
16 V IRGINIA G OLFER | M AY/J UNE 2020
vsga.org