A Massachusetts golf course owner is preparing to re-open two courses this week in defiance of the statewide ban on the activity, according to a report by Fox News.
Cara Cullen owns the Wachusett Country Club in West Boylston and the Kettle Brook Golf Club in Paxton. Both courses closed in March because they’re considered “nonessential businesses.”
It’s part of the state’s lockdown efforts to combat the coronavirus outbreak implemented by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, who did say on Monday that pressure from industry leaders to allow golfers safely back on the fairway is under consideration.
Massachusetts is one of three states that are keeping golf courses closed with no stated plans to reopen, according to the latest report from the National Golf Foundation.
“On March 31, my mother-in-law was one of the first people to pass away from this virus in Massachusetts. … I do know how serious this is,” Cullen told Fox News. “I don’t think this is a hoax. I think it’s serious. And my four children never saw their grandmother again and haven’t been able to properly grieve. So I do recognize how real this virus is.”
The Wachusett Country Club is in its fourth generation of operation in the Cullen family, which first acquired the property in 1939. The Cullen family purchased Kettle Brook in 2008.
‘Why do 47 states think it’s safe?’
“Basically for five weeks, I’ve sat by watching my family business get destroyed while thousands of golfers have crossed the borders to go to Connecticut and New York, which is causing huge safety concerns. … There’s like 47 states that have opened golf courses. By not opening golf courses, [Baker’s] actually creating a more hazardous condition,” Cullen told Fox News.
“If golf is so unsafe, why do 47 states think it’s safe?”
Other golf course owners in Massachusetts are teed off, too.
“It’s not only frustrating,” said Bill Plante, owner of Heritage CC in Charlton, told the Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette, “but can someone tell me, ‘Is the air different in Connecticut than it is here?’ Because that’s what we’re treating it like.”
Heritage is located less than 10 miles from the Connecticut border and Plante said some of Heritage’s regular golfers are traveling south to play.
Losing a month will hit hard
He pointed out that the golf season in Massachusetts usually lasts only six months so courses will take a huge financial hit by closing for a month or two. Losing golf outings and weddings will hurt as well.
“I don’t know if they’ll open clubhouses all year long,” Plante said.
Plante believes golf courses will be able to enforce social distancing.
Dudley Darling, general manager at Juniper Hill GC in Northboro, said some of his regular golfers are also playing in Connecticut.
“I can understand that, but it’s tough,” he told the Telegram & Gazette. “I believe we could be open. I believe we should be open, but we’re not going to violate the governor’s order.”
Darling would like courses in the state to open by National Golf Day on Wednesday, but he doesn’t expect it.
Bill Doyle, a reporter at the Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette, part of the USA Today Network, contributed to this article.
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