Essential?

Nothing like the government to tell you that your job just isn’t that important. In the Memphis area we had some city mayors saying golf is nonessential and some city and county mayors saying it is essential. With the help of Melissa Martin, GCSAA, TGCSA, TTA and many of our local superintendents we sent multiple letters and phone calls to our elected officials. I also know that the National Golf Course Owners Association and the Professional Golf Association played a big role in getting everyone on the same page. Every course had their own hurdles to overcome, we were closed and had to furlough some of our employees. With the help of the government loan we were able to hire them back in a short amount of time. We were also allowed to open back up with strict guidelines. Some of the restrictions were clubhouse and golf shop closed with takeout only. All ball washers, bunker rakes, and flag sticks were taken in to reduce touch points and no golf carts.

At the time this was written we have flag sticks in with an object in the hole to prevent the ball from going to the bottom of the cup and allowing carts but only single riders unless living in the same household. Our golf shop and clubhouse are open with reduced capacity and following CDC guidelines. As far as the MAGCSA we are trying to do the best that we can and still have our members safety in the forefront. We will have some webinars and zoom meetings and see what the rest of the year brings. Who’s to say what the new normal is going to be? Every day. What I do know is that we finally have good Bermuda growing weather and golfers a plenty. If we can keep all the cart traffic diverted and the hand sanitizer full, we might have a good year after all!

Andrew Foster

MAGCSA President