UK golf courses are set to find out this weekend when they can reopen following the Covid-19 lockdown, with some warning the notice period could be less than 24 hours.
A Downing Street spokesman has confirmed that outdoor activities will be discussed at a meeting on May 7, although it is unlikely that any decision will be revealed until after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s speech to the nation about the next phase of the lockdown on May 10.
The spokesman said: “Broadly, the scientific and medical experts have been clear that there is less likelihood of transmission of this disease outdoors than indoors. That will obviously be something we are considering as part of the review.”
This follows developments in Ireland where, last week, the Irish government issued a new directive on outdoor activities, which means golf courses in that country can reopen on May 18 with strict new rules, such as the only members who can play at their venues in May must live within 5km of their club.
Politicians such as Oliver Dowden MP and Craig Tracey MP have strongly suggested that golf courses will be allowed to open in the first wave of the easing of UK lockdown restrictions, while experts such as Professor Samuel McConkey and Sir Patrick Vallance have said golf can be played with an adherence to social distancing rules.
Golf courses are reopening all over Europe including, in the last few days, in the Channel Islands.
Another academic has joined the call for golf to resume: Public health, pandemics and infectious diseases expert Professor Robert Dingwall told Sky News that golf courses could reopen with just a ‘couple of days’ notice, adding that golf is a game that can be played while observing social distancing rules.
However, greenkeeping association BIGGA has gone even further, stating that clubs should be prepared for a notice period that’s less than 24 hours.
The association has issued a statement advising golf clubs and course managers to plan for two potential scenarios, with the first being that ‘golf courses may receive permission to open at very short notice, perhaps even overnight’.
The second is that golf facilities may be given one to two weeks’ notice to prepare for opening.
In the statement BIGGA adds that it has not been given official guidance from the government about an official opening date.
Some venues have said it will not be a problem if they are given little notice.
For example, David Milne, director at Hinksey Heights Golf Club in Oxford, said: “If the announcement was on a Sunday we could be open on Monday morning.
“There’s no reason why we couldn’t be up and running right away.
“We have to be ready, because nobody has made a penny in this last period.
“If there’s a classic sport for social distancing it’s golf. It gives you exercise physically and mentally.
“The courses in Ireland are going back in the middle of the month.
“We are remaining optimistic.”
Andrew Lawrence, general manager at Burford Golf Club, added: “Most of the arrangements outlined by the various governing bodies are similar to what they have done in Jersey.
“We could go tomorrow with the course.
“It would be a case of putting the flags back and the tee markers out and we could get going.
“The key is whenever we get the green light it’s a case of safety first.”
Others have stated it will be some time until their courses are back to normal.
Around the world, many venues that have reopened have reported busy trade.
For example: “It was about 15 seconds (after the announcement) that we had the first phone call asking to book a tee time,” said one golf club manager in Alberta, Canada, where golf courses reopened last weekend.
And: “We’re almost fully booked for the first 10 days of May,” said the director of golf at a venue in Chicago – where all golf courses reopened last Friday.
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