Great joy as golfers get the green light to play again

GolfRSA and the entire golf community in South Africa were overwhelmed with joy last week after the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture announced that golf clubs will be allowed to open and players could return to golf courses on condition of maintaining strict safety measures.

Shortly after the minister gave the go-ahead for action, Golf RSA also announced that, over the past few weeks, they have equipped all clubs with Risk Mitigation Strategies and training of Compliance Officers. All golf governing bodies and clubs acknowledged and recognised that the safety of human life is of paramount importance in this process.

In addition to this, GolfRSA has provided all facilities with a state-of-the-art application that allows for the scanning and monitoring of all golfers and staff.

Meanwhile, golf courses in Gauteng were a hive of activity this past weekend after enthusiastic golfers were able to play their first game of golf in almost three months. For this, they were even prepared to face the cold front that reached the province by Friday.

Brendon van Niewenhuizen, Golf Manager at Silver Lakes Golf Club in the East of Pretoria, told Rekord that, although due to Covid-19 regulations they could not accommodate the full capacity of the course this weekend, there was great enthusiasm among the players who did get an opportunity to play.

He said players had no problem complying with the regulations and all the required safety measures were put in place to give players the opportunity to enjoy themselves on the course.

Only the pro shop is open to registered players, but no other services will be available at the club for the time being.

Van Niewenhuizen emphasized that the government’s relaxation of the regulations that made golf action possible again came just in time for most golf clubs.

“We suffered great damage, but we were one of the lucky clubs with very loyal members. Most of our members have continued to pay their affiliation fees in the almost three months without action and it enabled us to maintain the club while we did not need to lay off any staff,” he said.

It is known that many other golf clubs were not so lucky and some – especially in the countryside – are still at risk of closing their doors due to the financial damage they have suffered since all golf action was banned in March.

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