When do you think you will next play golf?

Shooter McPowick

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Really?
My club has cancelled the pre emotive booking I made for Wednesday morning.
So much for trying to be one step ahead.

I guess there is a possibility that the club resets the booking system as they had opened it from this morning onwards. There's two ways to view this, our club is struggling for members unfortunately, but under these circumstances is a good thing for the current members as there are still plenty of bookings available for most days of the week.
 

Sports_Fanatic

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Absolutely understand what you're saying here Greg but......
Got word this morning through social media that our local range is reopening Wednesday. The bays are far enough apart, they have hand sanitizer etc etc etc....
I can go there and be 2-3 metres away from 2 other households in a semi enclosed area.
I struggling see the logic in allowing this when 2 people from different households can't walk in a field playing golf.
In food shops - understand that, it's a necessity but now businesses are starting to reopen and it doesn't make a lot of sense.

I would expect it's behavioural thing, people are naturally inclined to keep their distance from strangers and therefore 2m holds up even in situations where you may be close like a beach or in this case driving range (although as you say I think they'll have to do every other bay and other policies), whereas interaction with friends and particularly family will be scenarios where people are normally happy/want to be close. They may start with all intents and purposes to try and keep 2m apart but habits are hard to shift when the brain switches off 2 hours in e.g. high five if someone holes a monster birdie putt. Hence that i'm assuming is the reason they haven't loosened or encouraged mixing with family and friends further.

That being said I'm expecting clarification today that 2 balls are OK as it seems from a few sources that the rules will say you can meet up with one other person at a time outside your household as long as you keep 2m apart.
 
D

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I thought all exercise and activity remained in household groups and so cannot walk around a course with a mate for exercise. All of this is based simply on keeping households seperate as much as possible. All this has done today is allow individual households more freedom in what they can do, it remains that social interaction between households should be minimal
He said last night you may meet 1 person from another household in a park to chat but social distancing must be maintained.

“Government officials said that from Wednesday, you may sit with someone from another household in public under certain circumstances.

Those are if you stay 2 metres apart - and if there are only two of you, one from each household.

So for example, one person can meet another person from a separate household in a socially distanced way and chat from 2 metres away.

But you can't bend the rule to have a very spread-out party in the park with your mates.”
 
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I thought all exercise and activity remained in household groups and so cannot walk around a course with a mate for exercise. All of this is based simply on keeping households seperate as much as possible. All this has done today is allow individual households more freedom in what they can do, it remains that social interaction between households should be minimal

Raab has confirmed today that it is ok to “meet” family friends from another household if doing so complying with social distancing. To keep golf as single then makes no sense what so ever.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52612449
 

larmen

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Don’t read it as golf, read it at sport. The moment they say you can golf with mates is where you can cycle with mates or play basketball with mates, and then you aren’t 2m away from each other.
 

Mel Smooth

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Here's a solution.

You tee off with your mate on the next tee time.
Hit your drive to the 1st, walk to the ball, step aside and let your mate tee off. You play your 2nd shot, walk to the green and step aside while your mate plays his shot to the green, you putt out and signal your score to your mate. Move onto the next tee while your mate completes the hole at which point he signals his score to you.

Ok, it's not ideal, but it's better than wandering around the course on your own.
 

need_my_wedge

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Jcrossley94

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Don’t read it as golf, read it at sport. The moment they say you can golf with mates is where you can cycle with mates or play basketball with mates, and then you aren’t 2m away from each other.
Not sure that quite holds up, you could for example Fish next 2m away from a friend and you wouldn’t be breaking any rules, don’t see why golf wouldn’t meet this requirement
 

Doodle

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Raab has confirmed today that it is ok to “meet” family friends from another household if doing so complying with social distancing. To keep golf as single then makes no sense what so ever.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52612449

That was exactly my point.
Don't get me wrong, I am delighted that I can play golf again on Weds, but I do question the nonsense that I could meet a mate in the park or walk around the course with him whilst maintaining at least 2 metres apart, but we can't play golf together.
It does seem odd?
 

spongebob59

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I'm guessing clubs won't wish to get any kind of fine considering Boris said these would be increased, especially as most are going to be struggling financially.
 

bernix

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update from Austria
our golf courses opened on May 1st. requirements:
- 4 balls are permitted
- social distancing
- flags must stay in when putting
- no rakes in bunkers (preferred lies in bunkers)
- no ball washers
- no water supply
- only prebooked tee times

in our club we now use Golf Ball EZ Lyft
 

USER1999

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if it will take 2 days of full greens staff to make my course playable, and this involves unfurloughing them, I will be very peeved. The numbers of potential golfers who benefit from playing will be small, and in my view, measures taken to keep the club in business need to be kept in place. Otherwise they are just going bust quicker.

There is also the issue of course usage. On Saturday there were upwards of 200 people using the course. Picnics, footy, Frisbees, dog walking, families with small kids. It is going to be very hard to repurpose the golf course for golf, with singles at 10 minute intervals. And no, you can't just play through them. Imagine if you hit a small child.
 
D

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That was exactly my point.
Don't get me wrong, I am delighted that I can play golf again on Weds, but I do question the nonsense that I could meet a mate in the park or walk around the course with him whilst maintaining at least 2 metres apart, but we can't play golf together.
It does seem odd?

I’m gonna take a guess here and say that we can expect to get a further announcement from EG today or tomorrow based on what has been said this morning. That announcement is gonna say 2-balls from different households allowed.
 

need_my_wedge

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Just had an email from the club. Apparently the announcement last night has caught everyone, including the EGU by surprise, and is not what they had been led to believe. Changes in the plan that had been decided need to be made, and will be done in a meeting tonight after the full details are reviewed and more info arrives from the EGU.
 

howbow88

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There is also the issue of course usage. On Saturday there were upwards of 200 people using the course. Picnics, footy, Frisbees, dog walking, families with small kids. It is going to be very hard to repurpose the golf course for golf, with singles at 10 minute intervals. And no, you can't just play through them. Imagine if you hit a small child.
I too think this will be an issue at our place. The general public for the most part have been respectful of the golf course. There have been some pictures though of excess litter, kids making sand castles in bunkers, etc. On a Saturday morning when you would usually have stacks of 4-balls going out, politely telling people (or as needed, telling them to foxtrot oscar) that golf is being played and so they shouldn't sunbathe in the middle of a fairway would be fine. But on a sunny Thursday afternoon, where half the country is still not working, I don't think a couple of single golfers telling families that they shouldn't be having a picnic on the 1st green will work too well...

It's changing people's habits, and seeing as this situation has been going on for a good number of weeks, habits will have formed.
 

howbow88

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I think we will be allowed two-balls from different households, going along with the advice on meeting up with people outside and maintaining that 2m distance.
 
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