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Golf courses around the province have been scrambling to open.
While most will be welcoming golfers on their greens sometime this week, Oshawa Airport Golf Club tee’d off their season Monday.
Michael Bate took the day off to get in his first round of the season.
“Days like this you kind of got to get them in when you can,” said Bate, who is an avid golfer.
After picking up the game last year and not having swung a club in months, he knew it wasn’t going to be pretty.
“It will be a good round regardless, good day out right. As long as I’m out there playing, getting better every day, then that’s a plus,” said Bate.
“Dull days of winter are over and lets move on,” said Allan Williams.
Williams got in well over 100 rounds last year, and an earlier start this year has him just happy to be out.
“Not expecting to much, hopefully just hitting the ball would be nice,” said Williams.
The Oshawa Airport Golf Club is usually one of the first in Durham to open for the season.
“It’s nice to be open, it’s still scary,” said Bob Perkins, who is the owner of the Oshawa Airport Golf Club.
This is Perkins 30th season at the course. He says being able to golf in March is a gift.
“It doesn’t last for too long, we go back to normal next week. I think it’s going to be a little wet and cool, but then after not being able to open until mid-May last year, we need a bonus,” said Perkins.
Perkins says the 2020 golf season turned out to be a pretty good year because people didn’t have much else to do, and it’s a sport where there’s yards of separation.
Now, the course has to follow the same rules and regulations implemented by the province.
In keeping with physical distancing, tee times have been spread out, cups are upside down so nobody touches the flag or has to get their ball out of the holes, and no bunker rakes — the list goes on.
“Unfortunately we just have to roll with the punches, whatever changes are made, we just have to react instantly. We can’t really plan too far ahead,” said Perkins.
Monday’s round is the first of many for Wayne Banks. He says he is looking to blow last years total rounds out of the water now that he’s recently retired.
“We tried to get out on the weekend and you couldn’t find a golf course anywhere that was open, that wasn’t already full,” said Banks.
Despite a late start to last season, it turned out to be one of the best at Oshawa Airport Golf Club. Bob Perkins says this year could be as good if not better depending on the weather and how the pandemic goes.
“The biggest thing is keeping everybody safe,” said Perkins.
© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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