The Bunker Queen

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In this guest article, founder Robin Suntheimer shares a personal perspective of how golf courses in the United States have adapted to the challenges presented by the global pandemic and what this has meant to herself and her husband, both of whom just love playing golf.

Adapt

I have read numerous articles on how the Coronavirus has affected golfers and their favourite golf courses. Luckily, where we live, the courses didn’t shut down. Our courses here in Southwestern Virginia adapted and adjusted. I am so proud of our local golf courses and how they handled this pandemic.

Innovation

The courses made various changes to stay open and still manage to protect their golfers. They put up plastic curtains in the golf carts. I don’t think they had enough carts to do the single rider per cart so they came up with a creative way to allow players to ride together.

The Bunker Queen

Like most courses, they removed rakes from the sand traps. You can still play out of the trap, but there is no penalty if you remove it and place it behind the trap. My husband makes me still play out of the traps. I am not sure if he is sadistic or he just doesn’t want me to forget how to get out of the darn bunker. I am the bunker queen which doesn’t mean I get out of the bunker every time. It means, if there is a bunker, I will most likely land in it.

Water

They removed water kegs and ball washers. I miss the water kegs, but now, I just make sure I bring enough water for my husband to drink or clean our golf balls. I do miss the ball washers, but if we run out of water, I just make my husband spit on the ball. Works for us.

Noodle

They increased the time between tee times. They put a noodle in the pin and posted no removing the pin. I know this is hard to get used to but, it has actually sped up the speed of play.

Pro Shop

You don’t enter the Pro Shop to pay for your round. You pay outside through a window. Now here is my question. There is a plastic shield in the window. You hand the person behind the shield your money, whether it be a credit card or cash. They touch your card or cash and you touch it. Can you transmit COVID via money? I don’t know.

If you have to enter the Pro Shop, you must wear a mask. At least you don’t have to wear one while golfing.

Bleach

They wipe down the golf carts with bleach. And they must use a lot of it because you can smell it the entire round. You may get a headache from the smell but I guess it is better than getting COVID.

They put extra hand sanitiser in the portable bathrooms. And they too smell like bleach. They must have bought out all the bleach because I sure couldn’t find any at the beginning of the pandemic.

Nothing Better

They did suspend leagues for a while but there were too many complaints and they adjusted and adapted to continue with the leagues.

When you think about it, golf is a great sport during COVID. You are outside getting fresh air and exercise. It isn’t hard to social distance and you are enjoying the beauty of the course and its views. What could be better during a lockdown than playing a round of golf?