[D_Malley]

What will daily fee golf operations look like when public golf courses re-open?


will golf shops remain closed with all reservations and payments online?
one player per cart or walking only?
no single walk ups, no player pairing at all?
are group gathering permitted, no outings?
will restaurants be open with fewer seats?

[Steve Lapper]

  We (Fox Hollow GC) were open for over 12 days before Governor Murphy clarified that ALL courses should be closed in NJ.


  Upon re-opening, all food and service will be either pre-wrapped and packaged food or outdoor grill hot food. No indoor seating this season, unless the situation greatly improves.


  All transactions will be on-line or electronic. No more cash transactions this year.


  Walk-ups permitted, but they will be asked to either download our smartphone App, or present a credit card to a Square-reader on an iPad. The customer will do the swiping of a credit card and our employee will handle the rest.


   Carts will be permitted with one person rule in effect, save for accompanying family member.


   Player pairings will still be made, but optional to the larger party.


   Outings have been rescheduled for the fall. We have bought a few more picnic tables and an outdoor tent.


    No ball washers or non-necessary items out on the course.

[D_Malley]

Not much response, I guess most people on this site are associated with private clubs
Delaware state just issued new restrictions for golf courses

On April 6, Delaware Governor John Carney modified the state's COVID-19 state of emergency declaration, which includes new restrictions for golf facilities. Golf courses may continue operation with the following restrictions:

• Clubhouses, indoor areas where people congregate, and locker rooms (with the exception of bathrooms) must be closed. Any food service must comply with the restrictions on restaurants set forth in the State of Emergency declaration and all modifications
• Golf courses are prohibited from providing guests with motorized carts, golf bag carts, pencils, scorecards, or snack carts;
• Golf courses must monitor tee times and players to ensure adequate social distancing, and must raise flagsticks and holes to prevent players from touching cups
• Players are prohibited from accessing neighboring properties to retrieve stray balls.

[Joe Bausch]

Dan, I want to be optimistic.  I hope public golf will come back very strong.  I think people are going to really miss the game and recognize how wonderful it is to be outdoors (and easy to practice social distancing as that might continue long after the curve no longer has a large second derivative!).

[John Emerson]

I think that if this carries on long enough we will definitely lose some more courses.  There’s so many bad courses that should be closed so maybe it’s a blessing in disguise for golf as a whole.  These really bad courses hurt the market.  Multiple courses, good and bad, fighting for the same nickel.  If there’s less people fighting for a piece of the pie, the ones who manage to hang on (theoretically) through the pandemic ‘should’ see a revenue increase. All things being equal of course. 

[Sean_A]

Bad courses don't hurt the market. Too many courses hurt the market. I think we should be careful about injecting our personal opinions about the quality of courses into a discussion such as this. It can sound rather cold.

Ciao

[Peter Pallotta]

Mike Y will be angry with me, but for whatever reasons I find myself thinking much more about my municipal golf options than my public course ones. But as I type that I get angry at myself -- i.e. the 'city' (and its employees) will no doubt fare better in the coming months than the small businessman/private owner (and his employees): shouldn't I be spending my money on supporting the latter instead of the former?   

[Mike_Young]

Mike Y will be angry with me, but for whatever reasons I find myself thinking much more about my municipal golf options than my public course ones. But as I type that I get angry at myself -- i.e. the 'city' (and its employees) will no doubt fare better in the coming months than the small businessman/private owner (and his employees): shouldn't I be spending my money on supporting the latter instead of the former?   

Peter,I never get mad at you.  In our area all of the munis have closed and due to the mentality of the government employee, they just look at it as a long vacation.  But it has made it where we are slammed.  The courses I think will suffer the most from all of the are the "upper middle" privates.  So many people will be reevaluating whether they need that luxury or not.  I'm not talking about the avid golfer in such clubs but the person who plays here and there and sees the other options available vs. remaining in the club.  They have always silently subsidized the avid golfer.  AND the clubhouses are strangling these guys as we speak.  My bet is public golf comes out much better than private across the country.

[Jeff Schley]

I think golf will be one of the first recreational pursuits that will be allowed as we phase back into normal life. It will give some who have missed golf from years past, or those who haven't played as much as they used to an avenue to get outside and be active, thus increasing participation. Also since it will most likely be 1 person per cart or cart less, will come back as attractive for exercise and the purists will see us closer to the utopian state of golf from years past which is walking.
It could be rose colored glasses I'm wearing, but I see a bright future.  Assuming courses survive the financial hit from the shutdown.... to take a line from Bo Schembechler...."Those who stay will be champions"
Why not see the glass half empty and if you survive this you will have bright prospects.

[Tim Martin]

I think golf will be one of the first recreational pursuits that will be allowed as we phase back into normal life. It will give some who have missed golf from years past, or those who haven't played as much as they used to an avenue to get outside and be active, thus increasing participation. Also since it will most likely be 1 person per cart or cart less, will come back as attractive for exercise and the purists will see us closer to the utopian state of golf from years past which is walking.
It could be rose colored glasses I'm wearing, but I see a bright future.  Assuming courses survive the financial hit from the shutdown.... to take a line from Bo Schembechler...."Those who stay will be champions"
Why not see the glass half empty and if you survive this you will have bright prospects.

People having less money and as a result less discretionary spending power is not a formula for bringing more people to the game. You can look at it as an optimist but that doesn’t change the reality.

[John Kavanaugh]

You can't separate the golf from the golfers. Let's not pretend that full tee sheets of dollar a hole mutants are going to finish a five and a half hour round and tell themselves that they can't wait to do it again.

[Tim Martin]

I agree with Mike that the well positioned public courses can thrive and will see a boost from private course players that make the switch.

[John Kavanaugh]

The private club members will gentrify the public courses pushing prices up and driving the locals out.

[Ronald Montesano]

New York privately-owned, public-access golf courses are open. They are taking online credit card payment. They may accept other forms of tender. I have not been out, so I do not know. We have 18 course open, east to Batavia and south to Fredonia. There may be more.


One golfer per cart.


Walking encouraged.


Six feet apart at all times.


No flagsticks if full hole. Flagsticks if hole is filled with a deflector. Hit the deflector at appropriate speed, and ball is considered holed. USGA approves (and who really gives a care?)


Municipal courses are not open.

[Tom_Doak]

Michigan [and quite a few other states] have ordered all golf courses closed.


Hard to tell how much of it is for the safety of workers [because it is not ESSENTIAL for golf to exist], and how much is just politics [golf is for rich people = don't let rich people enjoy themselves while others are suffering]. 


I've seen a lot of comments along the latter lines on various internet sites . . . it's sad to see what a bad image golf has among average Americans.  I don't think having a golf-developer-in-chief has helped matters.

[Phil Carlucci]

New York privately-owned, public-access golf courses are open. They are taking online credit card payment. They may accept other forms of tender. I have not been out, so I do not know. We have 18 course open, east to Batavia and south to Fredonia. There may be more.


One golfer per cart.


Walking encouraged.


Six feet apart at all times.


No flagsticks if full hole. Flagsticks if hole is filled with a deflector. Hit the deflector at appropriate speed, and ball is considered holed. USGA approves (and who really gives a care?)


Municipal courses are not open.

All munis on Long Island are open except a very small handful of town-operated courses.  NYS, Nassau and Suffolk courses are open.  Good luck trying to reserve a time at Bethpage.

I might be off, but I think in some way this crisis might make public courses around here see the value in having a voice and promoting themselves to the playing public.  Courses that have stayed open have had no choice but to use their websites and social media to let players know that they are open and about regulations that are in effect for their safety. 

Will some of them go back to radio silence and zero promotion once this is behind us?  Probably.  But at least for now there are courses that have long been comfortable with total anonymity that are posting daily about measures that are in place, charitable efforts with green fees and general gratitude toward players and staff.

[jeffwarne]

 

The courses I think will suffer the most from all of the are the "upper middle" privates.  So many people will be reevaluating whether they need that luxury or not.  I'm not talking about the avid golfer in such clubs but the person who plays here and there and sees the other options available vs. remaining in the club.  They have always silently subsidized the avid golfer.  AND the clubhouses are strangling these guys as we speak.  My bet is public golf comes out much better than private across the country.

Bingo, and some of those overclubhouses privates will find out what an anchor that clubhouse is around their neck as the world is already discovering that life without clubhouses, 1/2 way houses,locker rooms, carts, caddies etc.etc. is not a real problem for actual golfers.
In a post CV world, why subsidize their buddies that like to eat at "the club" and demand lockers big enough to stand in?


Ironically, in the world's epicenter NY and now Long Island, courses remain open most with no amenities or staff, while the State owned(the very body that mandated the shutdown) ones are actually open(with modifications), renting carts and serving takeaway.

[JHoulihan]

What will daily fee golf operations look like when public golf courses re-open?


will golf shops remain closed with all reservations and payments online?
one player per cart or walking only?
no single walk ups, no player pairing at all?
are group gathering permitted, no outings?
will restaurants be open with fewer seats?

1-2 persons at counter/inside shop maximum
Credit card only. Who carries cash only and no card?
No food seating. Pick up/carry out only like local restaurants are following
Singles are mixed bag. Ideal for social distancing if walking or riding but can be between bigger groups. What size group is ideal...2...3?
Pairing can be tricky. I think if both parties meet and agree at starter station course would allow especially if both walking.
No groups
No outings
No restaurants until city wide restaurants open and following same guidelines.


I play as a single quite often so playing alone and walking/riding about 50/50 has been nothing new. Pairing up has always been a necessary evil (sometimes wanted for social chatter and other times avoided to work on short game chips and pitches without interrupting pace of play of rest of group). I have personally seen and talked to others over past 4 weeks about walking more and getting out of the cart routine. Some seem to be short term only but several have been wanting to try it long term with one even taking walking bag out of closet with 8 clubs for first time ever and loved it!


Justin

[Jason Thurman]

Ohio's courses have had the option to remain open throughout the crisis, aside from about a 36 hour period a few weekends ago. And even then, most private clubs that I'm aware of were able to keep their courses open.


Our state's leaders continue to advocate for socially distanced outdoor recreation, and golf has been a good outlet.


Walking is definitely more prevalent and most courses seem to be actively endorsing it. But I'm not sure it's going to spur a walking golf renaissance among the general public. The most walking-friendly public course routings in town are munis, and they're all closed (unless something changed recently). Meanwhile, I saw a residential course across town encouraging walking on their website a week or so ago. I just measured the distance from their 9th green to the 10th tee at 2200 feet on Google Maps, and that's in a straight line. The actual route is probably closer to half a mile.


It's been interesting to watch round times go down as everyone playing my home course started walking it, but that ain't gonna happen everywhere.

[D_Malley]

I just don't see how any public golf facility could operate and cover expenses with these type of restrictions in place,
which "most likely" will be in place for the remainder of this season???


No golf shop
No carts
No outings
No restaurant
Less players allowed on the course

[John Kavanaugh]

I thought the restaurant always lost money.

[Tom_Doak]

I thought the restaurant always lost money.

At private clubs, the restaurant loses money, because the members in charge don't want to put additional costs on the people who use it . . . they give themselves freebies on the dime of the membership as a whole.


At public facilities, they'll close it pretty quickly if it's a loser.

[John Kavanaugh]

If at a public you reduce staff and only serve beer you just might win.

[Jeff Schley]

I thought the restaurant always lost money.

At private clubs, the restaurant loses money, because the members in charge don't want to put additional costs on the people who use it . . . they give themselves freebies on the dime of the membership as a whole.


At public facilities, they'll close it pretty quickly if it's a loser.

At private clubs it would be even more of a cost center without F/B minimums each quarter. Clubs that don't have a large local membership struggle even moreso with the restaurant. For yeah I may play golf after work, but if I live an hour away from home, the family isn't going to drive all the way out to have dinner. 15-20 minutes sure.

[Kalen Braley]

I've played most of my golf over the years at public/muni courses...and I'm having a hard time recalling even one that didn't have at least a basic grill that did burgers, dogs, tuna melts, fries, etc.

Was it a 1-2 person operation?  Pretty much all of them, but there were always someone there to get you something.

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