7/17/2020
Dining Room
We will open the Clubhouse for use on Monday July 20
th, masks or face covering will be mandatory while in the Clubhouse. The decision to wait until Monday gives us the opportunity to coordinate staffing, food orders and other final preparations. Additionally, by opening on a Monday we will have a full week to gear up, determine traffic patterns and activity in advance of the weekend.
While the Province has not put specific capacity limits in place, the physical distancing measures of 2M essentially creates a capacity of approximately 50% in the dining room, sun room and on the deck. Many remain apprehensive about dining indoors and I expect many will gravitate to the patio, but we have worked to ensure the indoor set-up will have you feeling safe.
Locker Rooms
We will also open the downstairs lockers and washrooms on Monday July 20
th. This will alleviate some of the activity in the upstairs washrooms and allow members to utilize lockers again. Access to the locker rooms will once again be available through the downstairs hallway.
Please let the pro shop staff know if you would like a locker, so they can allocate locker numbers and keys. The showers will remain closed until further notice and on-counter accoutrements will not be available.
Back Shop
Opening this service will be a welcome addition for most members, beginning on Monday July 20
th we will open up the back shop for golf equipment and power kaddy storage. Once again, opening on Monday will allow us to schedule staff and complete training with the new staff, while allowing for a steady drop-off of equipment during the quieter weekdays rather on a busy weekend. Equipment cleaning will not be available until further notice, but we will have self-cleaning options available.
Driving Range
Four additional stalls will open on the main driving range for practice by appointment. We will continue to reserve four stalls for pre-round warm-up only and they remain available for use from 10-20 minutes prior to your tee time. Signage will be posted and the pro shop will enforce the booked practice times.
Bookings for the wedge range and short game green will no longer be required and can be used on a first come first served basis.
Junior Lessons (August)
We are planning to host junior lessons rather than camps this year starting in August. Due to the pandemic, physical distancing and associated concerns, the lessons are significantly smaller in size and duration. Ryan has put together a terrific plan for these lessons, details and registration information will be forthcoming.
Golf Events
We can also begin to revisit hosting larger golf events later in the season. Our plan in considering these events will be to proceed in a thoughtful manner with the safety of our staff and members as our highest priority.
While outdoor gatherings of 100 are now permitted, indoors are restricted to 50 and in all situations physical distancing is still required. Our indoor capacity will be less than 50 which will also be an important factor in our event deliberations.
At the moment we have plans to continue to host the following events;
- The Club Championships - scheduled for the August 15/16 weekend.
- The Junior Club Championship - scheduled for August 29.
- The Senior Club Championships – scheduled for September 9.
- Discussions are underway as to how we can host the Think Pink, Madheim and Ryder Cup events.
An important factor in these deliberations are events that utilize tee times versus events that require shotgun starts. For events using tee times, we know these can be safely undertaken, and these events have been confirmed. However, shotguns create a number of safety and physical distancing concerns in addition to tee access;
- Generally, the reason for shotguns is to accommodate post round activities, so groups can socialize and dine together. Due to the pandemic, we can no longer socialize or dine in the same manner we did in years past. Tables cannot be brought together; physical distancing measures are in place and we have capacity issues in our dining areas. With limited staff and kitchen size, buffet service is our most effective manner to serve large groups, but buffets are not permitted at this time. Other options are available but are less desirable.
- Shotguns starts are disruptive to tee access for all others not participating in the shotgun. As an example, for a shotgun start for 40 players, the first tee must be closed for approximately 1.5 hours in advance on the shotgun and then about 3 hours later the first tee must be closer again for over 1 hour. This mean over 2.5 hours or 60-70 players are disrupted to accommodate a group 40. Given how busy the course has been due to the pandemic and in consideration of everyone else trying to access the tee, this is not the preferred method of managing the tee this season.
As a result, for the time being, we will not be utilizing shotgun starts. As with all things COVID, we will be evaluating this decision regularly and will adapt accordingly if necessary.
While it seems like it’s been a long wait to get the Clubhouse and back shop open, it was only a few short months ago, when the emergency shutdown was implemented, we had serious concerns about whether golf would be permitted at all this year.
We’ve come a long way since then and I thank you for your patience, understanding and cooperation in following all our protocols and procedures during this pandemic.
All the latest updates can be found under the COVID heading on the website. I can be reached by email at
[email protected] or by phone at 705-428-3673, extension 7.
Thank you,
Gary Ward, General Manager/COO