Massachusetts is the last state to have neither opened its golf courses nor announced when they can open after governors in Maryland and Vermont said that courses in their states will be allowed to resume play Thursday.
The governors of Maryland and Vermont made their announcements Wednesday, following on the heels of several other states to recently announce when golf could open in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Washington allowed the game to resume Tuesday, and New Hampshire’s courses are allowed to reopen May 11. Alaska remains closed because of seasonality.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has ordered non-essential business to remain closed until at least May 18. When asked specifically about golf courses Wednesday, the governor said he wouldn’t speak about hypotheticals, according to masslive.com.
Despite being shut down, the sport is receiving plenty of attention in Massachusetts. The owner of two courses has vowed to open her clubs this week despite Baker’s mandate, and another course – International Golf Club & Resort in Bolton – filed for bankruptcy this week.
Across the country, 79 percent of golf courses in the United States were open as of May 3, according to a National Golf Foundation update. That’s up from 58 percent the week before. The latest NGF data shows that 66 percent of municipal courses, 83 percent of public daily-fee courses and 77 percent of private courses were open as of May 3.
Just because most governors have allowed the game to resume or never shuttered the sport during the pandemic, not all courses have reopened in those states. Some are still closed to seasonality, and others are shut down by municipal or county mandates.
Many top resorts have announced their reopening dates as well, and off-course retail golf shops in several states have started allowing customers into the stores as governors have loosened stay-at-home orders.
On Tuesday, golf industry leaders announced a set of guidelines that could help courses reopen safely as part of the new Back2Golf initiative that includes the PGA of America, the U.S. Golf Association and the PGA Tour, among others. The guidelines were developed in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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