SHOULD GOLF COURSES BE ALLOWED TO OPEN NOW?

SHOULD GOLF COURSES BE ALLOWED TO OPEN NOW?

It didn’t take long for the golfing public to raise the issue of opening golf courses during our current health crisis. Some 18,000 people have signed a petition to have the provincial government open the courses when the weather turns a little warmer and the snow is all gone. As with any issue, there are two sides to the argument. Where so you stand?

Golfers argue that golfing is a sport where physical proximity is not really an issue. For a short time at the T-box and on the green, at most four individuals might be close to each other. They maintain that the six feet of physical distancing that is being stressed by all of our health professionals  can be easily observed. Perhaps they are right.

In addition to proper distancing, other measures can be implemented to make golfing “safe” from viral contamination. If players use golf carts, only one person will be allowed per cart. There will be no “ball washers” or “pins” in the holes on the greens to again prevent golfers from touching equipment that others have contacted. From a strictly practical point of view, the golfers may have a fairly sound argument for opening golf courses with stringent safety precautions. But…

I don’t think that the logistics of whether golfing can be made “safe” from viral transmission is the most important argument. We all are currently facing a pandemic that is very serious and the means of reducing the dangers have to be taken just as seriously. We are constantly reminded that, “We are all in this together,” and we all have to work together to minimize the dangers. 

I think the issue of social responsibility is critical. The pandemic has not only infected millions and killed thousands, but it is not yet under control and we do not have a vaccine. As a result of the disease, we have been forced as a nation and even as a global community to self-isolate. This, in turn, has caused many businesses and industries to come to a virtual standstill. Thousands of small businesses, affecting hundreds of thousands of people are closed and may not ever rebound. Over one million Canadians are now unemployed and have to seek government assistance to survive. Given the shattering effects on the lives of so many people, it seems to me that allowing a handful of well-heeled individuals to return to the golf course for recreational purposes is socially and morally a slap in the face of those millions who are facing a very dire future.

This is a time to be supportive, positive, helpful, and united as we attempt to flatten the curve. Giving in to those who believe that golfing is really a safe sport at the present time is not morally right. When a huge segment of our population is either sick, stressed, unemployed, or in a financial crisis, I don’t believe that opening golf courses should even be on the table for discussion. Golf courses are not an essential service any more than pole dancing emporiums are and for those golfers who love and can afford the sport, it is time they considered the more important and bigger issues that so many others are facing. You can be sure that for millions of Canadians the last thing on their minds is whether they can go golfing next week!

When the infections of the pandemic are in decline, deaths are eliminated, the economy gets a kickstart, and people return to work or find jobs, golfers can then polish up their clubs and head to the course. Until then, I suggest that golfers take the high road, be supportive of the plight of the less fortunate, and just watch golf on TV.