May 12, 2020 Dear Ashley Member, Before we jump into some of the new information, this notice intends to communicate with you. We want to stop and let each of you know how much we appreciate your support of Ashley Plantation Country Club. In the uncertainty of the pandemic and its effects on all of us in the area, our great State, and beyond; we so appreciate those that are continuing to play golf, renew memberships, and abide by the social distancing requirements while at Ashley. This allows us to remain open to golfers and keep all of our employees and golfers safe. Thank you! Moving forward with golf, we do plan to continue to practice social distancing, cleaning protocols, and safety programs that are currently in place. We will ease them as ownership feels we can in conjunction with state and local government’s direction. We are thankful that golf has been permitted throughout the COVID-19 “stay at home” order. As the governor works us through the three phases of his plan to re-open Virginia businesses, we too will announce our steps to slowly and carefully return golf toward normal. During phase 1, we will start to offer some prepared (“hot”) food options. We will still require members and customers to adhere to the “under 10 customers” rule in the clubhouse. We will also return the cups on the greens to their normal position, below the green’s surface. We will, however; still ask that you not touch the flag stick. We will still require one golfer (unless same household) per cart. We ask that you hand sanitize or wash your hands as often as possible and refrain from sharing clubs or golf balls. During phase 2, again pending state and local government direction, we will move toward opening the clubhouse to “under 50 customers”. We will most likely go back to two golfers per cart and continue to open up the menu in the café to more items. Of course, we do not know the timing of the phases. We may consider changing some of the policies listed as easing in each phase and leave them in place until phase 3. The intent here is to let our membership and regular players know that we are committed to safety first. Yet, we do want to let you know we are pro-actively thinking of what heading back toward normal could look like for Ashley Golf. In reference to the Ashley Pool, this is as you can imagine, is not as easy. We have given a lot of consideration on how to move forward. With golf, social distancing and individual safety is much easier to define and enforce. Additionally, golf was never something that the governor of Virginia mandated to be closed. Whether in the “Stay at Home” timeframe, or in the upcoming phase 1, or beyond; golf is and has been permitted. Even should the governor move us back to
more restrictive requirements if he deems it necessary, golf as it is understood now, will remain open. The pool on the other hand is not as certain. The pool does not make sense to be open at “10 or less” or “50 or less”. It does not make sense for us to sell memberships, try to determine the amount of the membership for a partial season with partial pool access, and then working out fair pool access for members. All of these would be virtually impossible. Beyond the safety component, we are unsure of how many families would even feel safe coming to the pool. Then we consider the expense of starting up the pools, getting them ready, and not knowing for what part of the summer we will be authorized to be open. We would need to open the pools and get them ready for swimmers, interview and hire staff, determine social distancing restrictions with swimmers of all ages, and then consider the possibility of a mandated closure before the end of the summer… Sorry that I have rambled on with the details. I trust you can see we have been thoughtful with our decisions in all of this. With all these challenges and the uncertainty of the health of our staff and members, we have decided that the pool will remain closed for the summer of 2020. If we as a company are going to error in this situation, we are going to do so on the side of caution. We appreciate your understanding. We pray that this will pass quickly and that all of you will remain safe and healthy and that the new normal in our society will be here soon. Again, thank you for your support of Ashley Plantation Country Club. If you have questions or feedback, please contact me directly at earl@runkandpratt.com or 434-237-2268. I will be happy to hear from you. Sincerely,
Earl Prince V.P. of Golf & Hospitality Services Director of Finance and Human Resources Runk & Pratt Companies
AshleyPlantation.com
919 Greenfield St. Daleville, VA 24083
(540) 992-4653