Minnesota golf enthusiasts received positive news on April 17 when Governor Tim Walz said golf courses could open up for the 2020 season.
Whitetail Run’s Kevin Ross said the announcement from Walz helped. Ross posted on their Facebook page earlier in the day after hearing rumors the courses would be allowed to open up.
"It’s important for us to stay active and enjoy the outdoors while preventing the spread of COVID-19," Walz said in a statement. "This measure will allow Minnesotans to take advantage of more opportunities to get outside, while still doing their part to keep their neighbors healthy."
Courses are allowed to open up at 5 a.m. on April 18, however, Ross said they would be opening up at 10 a.m.
As of mid-day April 17, Ross said they had about 15 tee times scheduled and said people are ready to golf. Ross said the first golfers wanted to get on the course at 8 a.m., but they decided they wanted to let it warm up in the morning before letting people on the course.
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They are still working on the mechanics of how the course will work with social distancing in place, Ross said.
“The order said it’s one person per cart unless you live in the same house. If you have four buddies, that’s four carts,” Ross said. “We are trying to figure out how to do it and get people to make tee times and pay online first. We are trying to clarify a little more on the order.”
Ross said limitations in place allow for just four people on the green at a time.
“We have our sanitizers and the carts are all sanitized before they go out and they will all be sanitized when they come back in,” Ross said. “We will go from there.”
Ross and the staff came up with a creative way to make sure the golf balls don’t end up in the bottom of the cup.
“Four people are allowed per hole and have to be six feet apart,” Ross said. “On the greens, the flagsticks will be going in. We had a guy cut the pool styrofoam inflatables cut around the flag stick. The ball will hit that and it doesn’t go in the hole. This one will not allow the ball to go in, which is what we want.”
Ross said it will be a learning curve. He said they have one porta potty in its normal location and will be having one with a hand washing station out front at the clubhouse as well. Ross said they are taking the extra precautions until they lift the restrictions.
As of mid-day April 17, Ross said they had about 15 tee times scheduled and said people are ready to golf. Ross said the first golfers wanted to get on the course at 8 a.m., but they decided they wanted to let it warm up in the morning before letting people on the course.
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Ross said the course is really good. The fairways were mowed during the week and the greens will be mowed on Monday. They energized the water system and everything was working well according to Ross. He said they had 12 volunteers cleaning up sticks and branches off of the course as well.
“They are ready. As soon as we get it figured out inside, we will be good,” Ross said. “It’s a little tougher because we can’t really sell anything until we get more clarification on that.”
The executive order signed by Walz stated the event doesn’t allow for tournaments or spectator events at this time, which has forced the golf course to move a few events around. The Wadena-Deer Creek scramble has been moved from June 12 to Aug. 28.
Interested golfers can visit www.whitetailerungolfcourse.com or call 218-631-7718 for more information on the upcoming golf season.
