What you need to know about the return of golf in Ontario

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/05/2021 (1942 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As soon as the words came out of Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott’s mouth, Golf Ontario pressed send on the email it had been waiting weeks to deploy. Golf courses in the province can open again Saturday.

“Ontario’s We Are Golf partners are very pleased with today’s announcement that golf and other outdoor activities will be able to reopen on May 22,” the email said, in part. We Are Golf is a consortium of golf’s stakeholders, including Golf Ontario. “We have worked tirelessly to ensure that our messaging to the Ontario government was clear: Golf is safe.”

Elliott and Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a variety of measures Thursday regarding the gradual reopening of the province, and lifted restrictions on golf courses and tennis and basketball courts. Until Saturday, Ontario will continue to be the only jurisdiction in North America where golf is not allowed.

“We believe golf should never have closed and we recognize this lengthy shutdown has created some challenges for your business. We do believe, though, that demand will be stronger than ever, and we hope golf can play a key role in helping kick-start the economic recovery in Ontario,” the We Are Golf statement continued.

Booking systems were chugging slowly across Ontario after the announcement. Brian Decker, the director of marketing and communications for TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley, a 54-hole facility in Caledon, Ont., said his facilities’ booking site was briefly down due to “extremely high demand” and the phones, he said, have been “ringing non-stop.”

Decker said the biggest challenge for most Ontario golf courses will be to get the facilities up to speed again. Questions still remained late Thursday about opening driving ranges and warm-up areas, while numerous courses across the province, although excited, took to social media Thursday to make golfers aware of their system struggles.

“Less than 48 hours isn’t a tremendous amount of lead time,” Decker said. “Thankfully our full-time staff have done a great job having a plan for this scenario in place, but it’s certainly a challenge to go from 0 to 60 like this.”

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Here’s what you need to know about teeing it up in the province again:

• Where can I play? There are no geographic restrictions for golf in the province.

• Who can I play with? You can play with three others in a traditional foursome, and you are allowed to play with people outside of your household.

There are multiple pages of protocols that were submitted to the Ontario government in 2020 and will be kept the same for 2021, for the most part. The big change is regarding the use of power carts. The Ontario government has updated the regulations so that all golfers must wear a mask when in the cart, unless they are from the same household. Facilities can proceed with solo-rider carts. Lifting devices remain in place in the holes, there will be no rakes in the bunkers, and golfers are not supposed to touch the flagstick.

We Are Golf has recommended that golfers and facilities reach out to their local public health units if they have any specific questions.

• What should I expect when I arrive? Some key operational notes from We Are Golf are wrapped in where golfers can go or not go on site. Clubhouses are to be open for washroom access only, while green-fee payments need to be done online prior to arriving or at an outdoor table. If you arrive more than 20 minutes before your tee time, you’ll likely need to continue to wait in your car.

Restaurants can be open for takeout or curbside pickup, but patios may not be open for use this weekend. Beverage carts may serve golfers on the course, but masks must be worn within two metres of staff.

Adam Stanley is a freelance writer based in Ottawa.