Golf industry responds to coronavirus

Editor’s note: We will continue to update this post as information becomes available.

Updated March 18, 2020

The PGA Tour has canceled four more events: RBC Heritage (April 13-19); Zurich Classic of New Orleans (April 20-26); Wells Fargo Championship (April 27-May 3); and AT&T Byron Nelson (May 4-10).

The PGA Championship (May 14-17) has been postponed for a later date to be announced. The Regions Tradition was rescheduled to Sept. 24-27 and the Mastercard Japan Championship will not be played due to travel advisories put in place by the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization and the U.S. State Department.

First USGA championships also canceled

USGA has canceled the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, originally scheduled for April 25-29 at Quail Creek Country Club in Naples, Fla., and the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, originally scheduled for May 23-27 at Philadelphia (Pa.) Cricket Club. 

In addition, the USGA has canceled first stage qualifying for the 2020 U.S. Open and qualifying for the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open. USGA says it will look to reconfigure qualifying moving forward. As of now, the U.S. Women’s Open at Champions Golf Club and the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club are still moving forward.

Pinehurst response to COVID-19

Bob Farren, Pinehurst Resort & Country Club‘s director of golf course and ground management, likens the situation surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak to the Sept. 11 attacks.

“When that happened, that was kind of a different situation, but it happened and then everyone was emotionally drained by it and affected by it, but we fought our way through it,” Farren says. “The fighting instinct isn’t there that was had in 9/11, so that’s a different emotion, but you’re concerned and you want to know what’s going on but no one knows … We’re doing what we can to maintain as much normalcy as we can.”

Dinners and events at the club are canceled, and Pinehurst is telling employees not to come in if they don’t feel well or if they’re afraid to come in. Bigger corporate events that were scheduled within the next eight to 10 weeks have been canceled, but smaller “buddy golf” social trips are still on for the most part.

The club has also developed a task force comprised of a small group of division heads, to share information and stay on top of the situation, which Farren says is “changing and fluid from one hour to the next.”

However, as of Monday, March 16, people are still playing golf at the resort.

“People leave the flagstick in more. They’re not raking bunkers,” Farren says. “You see people’s lifestyles, habits are changing, (but) we have a core of membership who live here, and they love to play golf, and they love to be outside, and they’re doing that.”

Looking ahead, Farren believes that Pinehurst will emerge from the outbreak without taking a major hit.

Bayer committed to providing business continuity

As of March 17, Bayer remains committed to providing business continuity in its daily operations and ensuring it delivers on commitments to customers around the world to the greatest extent possible under these challenging circumstances.

For its Crop Science product supply, R&D and seed production sites, the company has staffing plans in place to maintain plant and facility operations in order to provide customers with the products and services they depend on.

Bayer is also committed to keeping customers informed of any changes that may come in the days or weeks to follow. The safety and well-being of its employees, customers, business partners and the communities in which they live and work remains a top priority.

Updated March 17, 2020

For Naperville Country Club in Naperville, Ill., the main concern is limiting its employees’ exposure to the coronavirus, according to superintendent Kyle Barton.

The precautionary measures in place at the club include disinfecting all door handles and surfaces multiple times daily, assigning each person a specific cart, wearing gloves while working, staggering lunch times so 6 feet of distance is kept among employees, wiping down steering wheels after use, washing hands often, wiping down tools with disinfectant after use, staying home if sick and not allowing outside vendors until further notice.

“(These measures) keep our exposure level to a minimum,” Barton says. “We’re only a staff of five right now, so if we can keep (contact) to a staff of five and their families who they’re coming into contact with, then we’re just limiting exposure.”

He hopes that these measures will prevent a shutdown of his maintenance department.

“So far, it hasn’t affected our workplace other than us taking precautionary measures. If we show that we’re taking the proper precautions, we won’t have to shut down our maintenance department,” Barton says. “We can’t really help whether they shut down the clubhouse or golf course or not, but we want to be able to keep working on the golf course so that when this whole thing is over, (golfers) have a good playing surface to come back to.”

Barton adds that since the club is in its off-season right now, the effect of COVID-19 hasn’t been a huge issue yet, even if a shutdown of golf courses does go into effect.

“I think long term, we’ll be OK,” he says. “I would say in the very near future, it’s going to change some people’s plans and change the way people think. We’re going to have to come together and get through it.”

One superintendent source tells Golfdom that his course is still open, but in addition to removing commonly touched items flagsticks and bunker rakes, he’s spreading out his crews by separating them into thirds and staggering shifts.

“We’re just trying to figure out ways, since what they’re saying is, with the coronavirus, if one person gets sick, everyone on that team will need to be quarantined,” he says.

Now, one of the course’s mechanic’s sole job is sanitizing. All team meetings are held outside, and aside from his typical scheduling via Task Tracker, the superintendent is sending out directions so his crew members stay separate.

In the event of a closure, he’s following hurricane procedures: making sure fuel is full on equipment and that sprays are ready in the event that the team receives a 12-hour notice to stop operations for a week or so.

“Grass doesn’t care what the coronavirus is; it’s still going to grow,” he says. “So, we can spray PGR out on the course and make sure that nothing grows for a week, week and a half while we’re gone.”

 

Updated March 16, 2020

For Kasey Kauff, director of grounds at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, the biggest concern he’s facing with the coronavirus where his PGA Tour event — the AT&T Byron Nelson — falls right in the middle of an eight-week window that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised against gatherings of 50 people or more.

“We’re in this weird window,” Kauff says. “If our tournament was in July, I would be less concerned. The longer we wait, the more money we spend if we have (the event) or not.”

Kauff says volunteers will be coming in from across the country — and the globe — for the tournament, and there are hotel blocks and other preparations that come with the tournament.

“We want a concrete decision made,” he says. “It’s this weird place of ‘I don’t know.’ I feel sorry for the guys and girls of other clubs who were built out and got other things ready. Until someone tells us otherwise, we’re just going business as usual.”

Kauff says there are people out playing golf on his course, but the weather hasn’t been that conducive to golfing.

And, several school districts in North Texas have extended spring break to three weeks, and Kauff says play is often down when families go on vacations timed with spring break. But, these circumstances are different.

And, Kauff says he has a few employees coming back from Latin American countries that he’s encouraging to go into self-quarantine for two weeks just to be on the safe side.

He adds that he thinks golf is a great opportunity to get outside.

“Playing golf at a golf course is a great way to social distance yourself,” he says. “You’re 30 yards away. Play golf!”

Golfdom reached Andy Wilson, director of grounds at Bethpage State Park, on Monday afternoon, March 16, as he was driving around the course with foursomes scattered about the Yellow Course.

“We’re cutting greens today — the Yellow Course is open,” he says.

This past weekend (March 13-15) at Bethpage, the Blue, Yellow and Green courses were open. The venue hosted the 2019 PGA Championship on its Black Course.

“The clubhouse was saying that golfers were happy to be out of the house and happy that we were open,” Wilson says. “It’s surreal to be the facility that’s open when a lot of other things are closing.”

He says that crew members are being more vigilant about hygiene and hand washing. He says that he had a crew meeting this morning to communicate that their safety is the most important issue at hand.

“If they aren’t feeling well and they have to stay home, or if they have to be caretakers for kids that are home — we’re obviously going to approve that. It would be pretty silly of us to hold people to a pretty high standard with such unknowns,” he explains.

He adds, “We’re doing our best to get the season underway, but what employer would keep their employee at work in the middle of a quarantine if they didn’t want to be? There are much bigger things happening,” he says. “For me, when I heard that New York City schools are going to be closed until April 20, that means we’re in this for a good four to six weeks.”

Be prepared for ‘anything’

Chambers Bay Golf Course, in University Place, Wash., is near the epicenter of the Seattle COVID-19 outbreak. But, Eric Johnson, director of agronomy, says it’s still status quo for the course.

“As for golf maintenance, nothing has changed yet,” Johnson says as of Monday, March 16. “We have a near-full tee sheet through this weekend. We are communicating with the staff to be prepared for ‘anything’ regarding their schedule.”

A college golf tournament that was to be held next month at the course was canceled.

Johnson does expect that school closings in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties will likely impact him as well as his staff.

“We are in uncharted territory with this pandemic, and the situation is pretty fluid,” he says. “We are expecting to have illness-related absences and will encourage staff to err on the side of caution by staying home if necessary. Fortunately, the turfgrass is still transitioning out of winter, so there’s not a big demand for mowing. The priority is staying healthy; the golf course will be here tomorrow.”

Johnson says he’s reminding staff that there is sick time and vacation time, and they are to use it if they feel sick. He’s encouraging his staff to do basic things like wash hands and increase the cleaning frequency of high-contact items such as steering wheels, seats, doorknobs, railings, etc.

Helpful planning 

McCord Golf Safety shared a checklist via Twitter from the CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, noting “By now you must have at least considered how the coronavirus may impact your golf course and specifically your maintenance team. Here’s a checklist from HHS and CDC that may be helpful in your planning.”

GCSAA staff transitions to remote operations

The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) says the organization will modify its operations for the foreseeable future to assist in reducing the spread of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The transition is effective Monday, March 16.

The association says no GCSAA team member has tested positive for the virus, this move is out of an abundance of caution and the headquarters building will not be open to the public. 

“We are very fortunate that we invested in the technology to be able to continue to provide the high level of member service we are known for while keeping the health and safety of our members and staff at the forefront,” Rhett Evans, GCSAA CEO says. “We will continue to monitor the situation to determine when we feel it is safe to return to our traditional operation.”

GCSAA members can continue to access all of GCSAA’s websites, and they can continue to receive assistance by calling 800-472-7878 or emailing mbrhelp@gcsaa.org or reaching out to staff at their direct numbers or email. A full list of GCSAA contacts is available at https://www.gcsaa.org/contact.

 

Originally published March 13, 2020

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan announced all PGA Tour events, starting with The Players Championship and continuing through the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, Texas, are canceled due to concerns over the novel coronavirus or COVID-19.

“Even though we feel we have a safe environment, and we’ve done all the right things, we can’t proceed,” he said. “It’s not right to proceed.”

Monahan pointed to the closing of two major theme parks in Florida as an indication of the magnitude of the decision.

“We just felt like given all those factors, it was time to move on,” he said.

Masters follows suit

Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, last week said everything was going to continue as planned at Augusta National. However, as of March 13, The Masters, along with the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals, will be postponed.

“Unfortunately, the ever-increasing risks associated with the widespread Coronavirus COVID-19 have led us to a decision that undoubtedly will be disappointing to many, although I am confident is appropriate under these unique circumstances,” Ridley said in a statement. “Ultimately, the health and well-being of everyone associated with these events and the citizens of the Augusta community led us to this decision. We hope this postponement puts us in the best position to safely host the Masters Tournament and our amateur events at some later date.”

Ridley says Augusta National will continue to work with the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Office of the Governor of Georgia, the Georgia Department of Public Health, the City of Augusta and all other local authorities and updates will be posted to Masters.com.

“As COVID-19 continues to impact the lives of people everywhere, we seek your understanding of this decision and know you share our concern given these trying times,” Ridley said.

No change to USGA 

The United States Golf Association (USGA), which stages the U.S. Open has released the following response:

 “The USGA has been carefully monitoring all information available regarding the novel coronavirus COVID-19 and remains focused on the health and safety of the USGA community, including our staff, players, officials, volunteers and spectators. We have established an internal task force and are communicating on a regular basis with our peers in the golf community and the broader sports world as information on this evolving issue continues to be shared. Our leadership continues to follow current guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization and will remain vigilant in working with local and state authorities to monitor the virus and its implications for the entire USGA community.

Our championship season begins in late April and runs through September, with the U.S. Open being played in June, and as of today, we have not made any decisions to alter this schedule. We are committed to being proactive in updating our constituents regarding any changes and will provide more information as it becomes available. We will take action in the event there are direct impacts to our people or our championships, including our qualifiers.”

 

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