Is Golf Available Where You Live? (COVID-19 Edition)

[Carl3]

22 hours ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

 The members got together and bought these. We were all sick of was it in or not and the course had no interest and any expenditures out of the norm. We rotate the wire so its behind the direction of the putt. I hit about 25 putts at the wire from 4', you have to hit it pretty hard to to have the putt knocked away, and noway to tell if the flag stick could have caused it. Unscientific I know,  But it feels like it will make very little difference on 99% of the shots. The last guy to hole out moves the wire to face the back of the green, hopefully minimizing any effect on a good approach shot. If you lift it slowly the ball will stay on the base, most of us seem to do what you are seeing here, popping it up and letting the ball fall to the green, then doing a putter scoop.

 

LOL, our course bought a couple of pool noodles and cut off maybe a few inches at a time and placed these in the cup. The ball is super easy to pick up out of the cup.

[Cartboy]

21 hours ago, Carl3 said:

LOL, our course bought a couple of pool noodles and cut off maybe a few inches at a time and placed these in the cup. The ball is super easy to pick up out of the cup.

From my May 18 Post:

 

[Cartboy]

As to the question at hand, "Is Golf Available Where You Live?" from a course operator's point of view, my GM said this to me on March 24:

We are closed as of today.

(Course Superintendant) and I are the only ones left and we are tasked with keeping the golf course alive until we re-open. 

This really sucks but I’m glad to still have a job. I just feel really bad for everyone that had to be laid off. Are you still in FL?

It has since reopened, but is not very busy.

This is the first time in 13 years that I am not back working by March or April.  So, not working and not golfing.

[Cartboy]

By Associated Press, Wire Service Content May 23, 2020, at 3:22 PM

Western Montana Virus Outbreak Tied to Luxury Golf Club

An outbreak of COVID-19 in western Montana is tied to an exclusive golf and country club developed by financial executive Charles Schwab.

- - - - - -KATU News requested and received records from Portland's Parks & Recreation Department and discovered that from March 1 through April 6, 2019, there were 23,089 rounds of golf played at its five municipal courses. During that same time period this year, from March 1 through April 6, 2020, Portland Parks Golf saw an increase of 15% in golf rounds - 26,554 rounds of golf were played as the coronavirus outbreak spread in the Pacific Northwest.

Portland golfers play through coronavirus pandemic at city courses

---

Golfers are still swinging away at Portland's five city-owned and operated courses during the coronavirus pandemic, with more rounds being played compared to this time period last year, even as orders from the governor...

Edited May 31, 2020 by Cartboy

[iacas]

Not sure what your point is here @Cartboy. One employee contracted it outside the county. Seven other non-symptomatic employees tested positive.

Borderline trolling here by you.

[Cartboy]

I guess if one needs to choose how they wish to put themselves at risk during a nationwide pandemic, playing golf sure is a lot better than going to WalMart or Home Depot or a pool party at LOTO.

Yes, my thoughts are part of "Is Golf Available Where You Live." 

People are pretty much welcome to do what they want to do now that things are re-opening, but a reminder from just one person that there is still some risk involved probably won't be enough to keep golfers from golfing, but it needs to be said, just for balance.

Like I've already said, this is the first time in 14 years that we're not back to work by now, so something's going on.

There will be a new normal, governed by common sense and prevention.  Like most everything else, how golfers golf, how courses operate, will be in the mix for a long time.

Edited June 1, 2020 by Cartboy

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Cartboy said:

I guess if one needs to choose how they wish to put themselves at risk during a nationwide pandemic, playing golf sure is a lot better than going to WalMart or Home Depot or a pool party at LOTO.

You're seemingly "anti-golf" in this whole thing.

The article you cited had a "blaring" headline, but it wasn't even really grounded in reality. The truth is that seven people were infected by a person who WORKS at a golf course, and the seven other non-symptomatic/asymptomatic people were also employees.

This isn't people going to play golf who got infected by a playing partner.

And even if that does happen, so what? It's not common. It's not frequent. It's not happening regularly.

Oh, and again, that initial guy? He didn't even contract it inside the county, let alone at the golf course:

Quote

Club officials thanked the Ravalli County Health Department for its immediate and thorough response. The health department had said it was believed the first person who tested positive had contracted the respiratory virus outside the county.

So just stop. Stop bagging on golf as if golfers and golf clubs are doing anything wrong. There's almost NO chance of contracting COVID-19 if you play golf outside and follow the guidelines. Heck, there's almost no chance if you just stay outside, even if you get within six feet of people for a few seconds at a time and you touch the flagstick accidentally or you both drive your cart at different times, touching the same steering wheel…

1 hour ago, Cartboy said:

People are pretty much welcome to do what they want to do now that things are re-opening, but a reminder from just one person that there is still some risk involved probably won't be enough to keep golfers from golfing, but it needs to be said, just for balance.

No, it does not "need to be said, just for balance."

People are at many times greater risk driving to the golf course than they are once they arrive. They're probably more at danger of getting into a golf cart accident than contracting COVID-19 outside on a golf course.

You may as well list the million other "risks" golfers face when playing golf, because the odds of contracting COVID-19, from all that we know and continue to learn, is incredibly small.

1 hour ago, Cartboy said:

There will be a new normal, governed by common sense and prevention.

I've learned it's best not to rely on the application of common sense in anything larger than about two or three people.

[Cartboy]

It's your "private" forum, and you pay the bills, so you have the right to control content.  That's the way Internet forums have always worked.

Everyone go golf, stay safe.

😷

Edited June 1, 2020 by Cartboy
working on my formatting

[CarlSpackler]

Just now, Cartboy said:

It's you "private" forum, and you pay the bills, so you have the right to control content.  That's the way Internet forums have always worked.

Everyone go golf, stay safe.

😷

How is he controlling the content? He is responding to you, and you have the opportunity to respond back. That is how conversation / debate works. This has nothing to do with how the site is moderated.

[iacas]

2 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

How is he controlling the content? He is responding to you, and you have the opportunity to respond back. That is how conversation / debate works. This has nothing to do with how the site is moderated.

Bingo.

I've had enough of the anti-golf hot takes that aren't even grounded in reality from @Cartboy.

But hey, if there's something that exemplifies "the way the Internet has always worked," it's playing the victim and making stupid allegations against moderators when someone disagrees with you.

[CarlSpackler]

I tend to go the other direction from @Cartboy in that we can start removing the pool noodles from cups and put ball washers back on the course. We could add sanitizing stations on every tee box and allow / encourage golfers to sanitize their hands after touching common objects like flag sticks, etc. The only place I would continue extreme measures would be at a retirement community course perhaps.

I saw 2 discarded rubber gloves on the golf course yesterday. I am normally one to pick up litter, but I don't know if those were used by a proctologist or as a COVID preventative. I would suspect the latter, but no way was I touching those. COVID fear has taken this world to crazy town.

Additional thought. I was thankful for the plexiglass divider in the cart yesterday as it helped to shield me from the bitter breeze. 😉

[ChetlovesMer]

1 hour ago, CarlSpackler said:

I saw 2 discarded rubber gloves on the golf course yesterday. I am normally one to pick up litter, but I don't know if those were used by a proctologist or as a COVID preventative. I would suspect the latter, but no way was I touching those. COVID fear has taken this world to crazy town.

Ha, So yeah. 

We were doing family pictures yesterday. Outside, in a park, near flowers and trees and the like. Ya know, beautiful background settings. Anyhoo, there were a couple of discarded sandwich bags on the ground in amongst the flowers. So, I picked them up and shoved them in my back pocket to be discarded the next time I walked passed the trash can. I literally got stares of horror and shock, like I just picked up nuclear waste or something. 

[CarlSpackler]

4 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

I literally got stares of horror and shock, like I just picked up nuclear waste or something. 

I would rather touch nuke waste than someone's rubber glove.

[ChetlovesMer]

7 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

I would rather touch nuke waste than someone's rubber glove.

Funny. 

But in my case it was a couple of zip-lock baggies. Probably formerly held a PB & J Sandwich. They'd been out in the rain out in the UV, sure they weren't sterile. But come on when I was a kid we drank from the garden hose. 

[iacas]

From @Cartboy, this is the kind of stupid shit we have to put up with all the time.

A moderator gave him a warning. He replied to the auto-generated email with this:

Moderators here know, nobody has to kiss anyone's ass. Nobody here has to agree with others here.

But what you cannot do is get pissed that nobody is agreeing with you and continue to behave poorly.

@Cartboy's wishes have been granted.

P.S. Nice try.

P.P.S. Now, back to discussing reality.

[Double Mocha Man]

28 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Ha, So yeah. 

We were doing family pictures yesterday. Outside, in a park, near flowers and trees and the like. Ya know, beautiful background settings. Anyhoo, there were a couple of discarded sandwich bags on the ground in amongst the flowers. So, I picked them up and shoved them in my back pocket to be discarded the next time I walked passed the trash can. I literally got stares of horror and shock, like I just picked up nuclear waste or something. 

It's been nice knowing you...

[Double Mocha Man]

2 hours ago, CarlSpackler said:

I saw 2 discarded rubber gloves on the golf course yesterday. I am normally one to pick up litter, but I don't know if those were used by a proctologist...

You know when a guy hits a really bad shot and says, "F*ck me!"?  That's how those gloves were used.

[CarlSpackler]

12 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Funny. 

But in my case it was a couple of zip-lock baggies. Probably formerly held a PB & J Sandwich. They'd been out in the rain out in the UV, sure they weren't sterile. But come on when I was a kid we drank from the garden hose. 

Right?

I can't think of a reason that rubber gloves would be needed on the course. It's not like you put some on to use a bunker rake and then toss the gloves. I mean, that would work if there were rakes out there. People are wearing these gloves for hours if not days. They were meant to be used for a task like evaluating a patient and then discarded. It's not like you contract this through your skin.