After most local golf courses got open for about a week, the provincial government made the decision last Friday to shut courses down as part of the stay-at-home order.
Bonaire Golf owner Randy Fielder says he was surprised when he received the news the provincial government decided to put a temporary ban on golf.
“We’ve been able to keep people healthy at the golf courses dating back to last year, and we are all socially distanced because golf is 200 yards apart or else you hit the next person, so we see no reason to be shut down,” Fielder said.
On Monday, Dr. Peter Juni, science director of the health science table (which advises the provincial government) said they did not recommend closing outdoor amenities such as golf courses.
“The doctors are right, they didn’t need to close us,” Fielder said.
“All last year the golf course organizations didn’t find a single transmittable case from golf courses.”
Already a change.org petition to re-open courses had more than 25,000 signatures by mid-afternoon Monday.
“Through Golf Ontario and an organization called We Are Golf, we’ve reached out to the government to express that we should be open,” Fielder said.
Fielder says he has heard back from MPP Jill Dunlop, but it wasn’t the response he was looking for.
“I’ve reached out to her twice so far. I haven’t got anything back other than the party line... she has to follow what her party has laid out,” he said.
Dunlop told OrilliaMatters the decision to close outdoor recreational amenities such as golf courses was made in response to the "continued and concerning growth in COVID-19 case rates, the threat on the province's hospital system capacity, the increasing risks posed by COVID-19 variants, and to ensure people stay home as much as possible to help break the trend of transmission in communities."
“While outdoor settings are lower risk than indoor settings, they are not risk-free and COVID-19 transmission can occur as a result of outdoor gatherings,” she said.
“Ontarians are still permitted to go outside and exercise alone or with other members of their household, or with one other person from outside that household who lives alone or a caregiver for any member of the household," said the local MPP.
However, Fielder's customers remain confused and upset with the decision to close golf courses.
“They say we take care, we stay apart, we like golfing and we need the exercise. I think they are all going a little stir crazy just sitting around the house,” he said.
Fielder's staff are also disappointed with the government’s decision.
“Everyone is all laid off, they are sitting at home with no money, they aren’t very happy with this, and they all want to work,” he said.
Fielder hopes the ban on golf courses is reversed by the government before the stay-at-home order is scheduled to come to an end on May 20, as every day that passes is extremely costly to his business.
“The first three days that we were closed cost us probably $25,000, and it’s gone forever,” he said.
“The days we don’t have golf we can’t make money, and there is no opportunity to get those days back.”
Over at Hawk Ridge Golf & Country Club, managing director David White and a small complement of staff are using the season's delay to get their course in prime condition.
“We at Hawk Ridge were not scheduled to open before April 29. Anyways, our property is a clay-based golf course, so it’s very wet still, so we need some time to dry,” White explained.
“We are still getting ready so when the time does come to open, we can get up and going,”
Not being able to open for their target date later this month is frustrating to White and his staff but they are just trying to take things one day at a time.
“Right now, we are weathering the storm. Basically, if we are looking at how things went last year, May 20 would mean we are opening only two days earlier than last year,” he said.
While White remains patient, he recognizes local golfers are anxious to get back on the links.
“I think every golfer in Ontario is frustrated right now, but I really try to keep an open line of communication with our members who do call into the club,” he said.
“We know golf is a sport everyone looks forward to taking part in, and I’ll be the first one to say, we want to be open, but we just can’t right now.”
White encourages his customers and local golfers to stay positive.
“It’s one of the things I truly believe in. Sure I’m frustrated, but in a positive way. My belief is safety first; golf will happen, when that is will be determined by the health people,” he said.
“Get frustrated with playing the game of golf, it can be a frustrating game, but don’t get frustrated with not being able to play. I would encourage people to look forward to when we can play.
Lake St. George Golf Club in Washago was only able to open for one day before the provincial government forced the closure of golf courses.
“With the early Spring we did as much as we could to hammer through to get ready in the building and on the golf course,” said general manager Dustin Louth.
“We bought dividers for the golf carts this year, we built a little fence around our podium so people can’t enter it. So to have the rug pulled from under us was a bit of a shock.”
Louth is hoping the government will reverse its decision in the coming weeks.
“Everything I’ve read from different doctors and science panels has said golf is a safe activity,” he explained.
“It’s very frustrating that we are closed. I went to Costco last weekend and thought how we can do this, even though I understand it’s food, but yet we can’t be in an outdoor space on 300 acres spread out ... it doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
Louth says Lake St. George Golf Club would put even more restrictions in place just to re-open.
“We would restrict people to using single carts or walking only, we just want to get people out and playing,” he said.
Louth believes that golf and other outdoor recreational activities are essential to the well-being of citizens.
“People have been trapped inside all winter, and we saw a lot of new people playing the game last year because they didn’t have anything to do outside of their home other than going for a walk. People need it,” he said.
Not only do the customers need the game of golf, but so does the staff at Lake St. George Golf Club.
“All of our staff inside are on a leave until we know when we can come back, and same with our staff outside except for my mechanic, my assistant superintendent and myself, we are looking after 27 golf holes which is a lot of work,” Louth said.
Having golf courses closed during the stay-at-home order is costly to everyone involved, Louth says, especially his family-owned and operated business.
“By next week we will be deciding what to do. Do we bring the turf team back to get ready to prepare for May 20? It’s going to cost us while we have nothing coming in,” he said.
“Being a family business and a business that only has five good months to make our living is hard right now.”
Louth remains hopeful there will be a change to the ban on golf within the next week or two. He vows to be ready whenever the word comes.
