Eager golfers book up opening day at Hamilton club within 75 minutes of Doug Ford’s COVID-19 announcement

At 1:35 Thursday afternoon, Ontario premier Doug Ford announced golf courses across the province would be allowed to open this weekend as COVID-19 restrictions are gradually being lifted.

And at 1:35 and seven seconds, we turned our booking system on," said Barry Forth, director of guest experience for Copetown Woods Golf Club. People were messaging me videos of themselves on our website hitting the refresh button knowing that it was about to happen."

Less than a minute after Ford's announcement, Copetown Woods booked its first golfers of the season and within 75 minutes, all of Saturday's tee times were fully filled.

If we had four golf courses, we could have filled them all for Saturday," said Forth.

There's never been the pent-up demand and excitement and anticipation for golf courses to open as there is now," Forth added.

After a sudden end to the 2019 golf season because of an early November snowfall and cold snap, golfers hoped a mild winter would lead to an early start this year until the pandemic shut everything down.

Ontario is one of the last provinces to allow golf courses to open.

I was almost tempted to go down to New Brunswick," said Brett Adams, an avid golfer and longtime member of the city's King's Forest Golf Club.

My first thought when I heard the news was Woohoo, it's about time,'" Adams said.

It's not only just the golfing but also the fact we aren't able to go out and practice, whether it was the chipping green at Chedoke or a driving range just to hit some balls to loosen up," he added. To hear the sound of the golf balls, those are the things I've missed."

City golf courses

The city says King's Forest will open Wed. May 20 and the two Chedoke courses are expected to open the weekend of May 23.

Paul Johnson, the city's general manager of healthy and safe communities, said it will take time to bring back seasonal staff and prepare them for the new restrictions that will be in place.

There is a long list of things we need to do around training," said Johnson. Our operations folks said there was no way by tomorrow they could get that up and running."

Johnson said he expects information about 2020 rates for the municipal courses will be posted this weekend.

Burlington's municipal Tyandaga Golf Course will open Sat. May 23. Tee time bookings can be made beginning May 19.

Tyandaga's clubhouse and dining room will be closed but the pro shop will be open with distancing measures in place. There will be no leagues or tournaments at this time and the practice area will remain closed.

Safety measures

Copetown Woods, like other golf courses, will be implementing a wide range of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The clubhouse and pro shop will be closed and tee times must be booked and paid for online. No walk-ins are allowed.

The driving range will remain closed. Each group will be allowed onto the practice putting green 10 minutes before their tee time then advance to the first tee once it's cleared.

Power carts will be in use but limited to one rider per cart and all carts will be completely sanitized after each use. Distancing measures will be in force on the course.

Golfers aren't to touch the flagsticks and the cups have been inverted so golf balls can be picked out easily.

It comes down to common sense," said Forth. We want to make sure this is obviously a safe environment for golfers and for our employees too."

Steve Buist is a Hamilton-based investigative reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbuist@thespec.com