Stewartry golf clubs will be ready to go as soon as lockdown restrictions are eased.
While play was allowed to resume in England yesterday, courses across Scotland remain closed.
Castle Douglas Golf Club captain Chris McIntyre believes holding off for now is the right call – but players will be able to tee off pretty quickly when they receive the green light.
She said: “We are following Scottish Government and Scottish Golf guidelines and I think it is the right thing not to open up at the moment.
“Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are all in the same position as they peaked later than England.
“We are all desperate to get playing golf again and we are in the process of working with Handicap Master in working on a system so we can be up and running again as soon as possible.”
She added: “We have missed out on income from visitors and some of our members haven’t renewed yet, they weren’t able to do it before lockdown.
“We’re missing out on bar income and the bar steward has been furloughed. Fortunately BIGGA, the greenkeeper’s union, say they are key workers so he has been able to maintain the course.
“The greenkeeper has done a grand job of making sure we are ready to play when we’re allowed. There will just be a few things to do.
“The main thing has been making sure we have a club at the end of it and I imagine all clubs will be in a similar position.”
When play does resume, golfers will face a number of changes with locker rooms set to remain closed and tee times to be at least 10 minutes apart.
Gatehouse Golf Club captain Pete Haslam is also keen to get going again and reckons he’s not alone.
He said: “We want to see the course open as soon as possible, when it is safe to do so.
“We have been able to maintain the course very well indeed but I don’t think it matters what condition your course is in, it will be very busy as people will want to get out and hit a ball around.
“If it is the same rules as in England we will be allowed to get visitors and that will provide some income but not to the extent that we can bring back staff who have been put on furlough.”
They said: “We remain in daily dialogue with the Scottish Government and other golfing bodies throughout the UK to ensure that when it is deemed safe to do so in Scotland, we are ready to support our golf clubs with a concise protocol for reopening.”
