Although the majority of golf clubs across the state have taken on the NSW Office of Sports' approval to allow for groups of four to play, Mudgee Golf Club (MGC) however have decided to go one less.
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The decision to allow for groups of four to return came into place on Friday, May 15, accompanying the state's reduced coronavirus restrictions.
Mudgee Golf Pro Peter Mayson says not only has MGC made the decision to approve groups of three for the safety of their players, but also for the benefits of play time.
"The pace of play has been what has brought a lot of people back to playing golf, they've been getting around in three hours of so," Mayson said.
"Because it's been social distancing with two people, they have enjoyed the pace so we've decided to go to threes which should keep pace of play relatively quick.
We feel we can manage social distancing safely in threes which is the whole point of this thing, it's to manage the health side of it too.
- Mudgee Golf Pro, Peter Mayson
"At this stage we're just doing it gently because the members feel quite safe in selecting who they play with, that's the biggest thing."
Due to the unviable nature of the clubhouse opening to only host 10, Mayson said the board will review their current restrictions once everything returns to normal which could mean the introduction of a "pyramid effect".
"At this stage it's just not viable for us at the clubhouse to open. When the clubhouse is allowed to fully open, this is when the board will review the possibility of returning to fours," he said.
"It's certainly going to be discussed [keeping threes], there might be a pyramid effect where you can have twos, threes and fours.
"We've also reduced restrictions only a little bit that we used to just allow members and people who have a 2850 drivers licence, but now we're doing both members and anyone with a licence in the Mid-Western Region.
"Visitors from outside of the region are still not allowed at this stage, but it will be reviewed on a monthly basis.
As there are no active cases in our area, we feel comfortable releasing these restrictions.
The coronavirus pandemic has proved to reap some benefits for MGC, experiencing a 25 per cent growth in member numbers with a large pool coming from the younger age bracket.
"It's been amazing to see the increase in juniors who aren't members but are under 18. Because there's no other sports, there's been a huge increase in young people that are playing golf which has been quite surprising," Peter said.
"If anyone wants to get into golf, now is the time to do so."
Mudgee's golf course will reopen to seven days a week from May 25, 2020.
Jay-Anna Sleeman
Reporter for the Western Advocate. First began as a sports journalist with ACM in 2018 before moving on to cover news and court.
Reporter for the Western Advocate. First began as a sports journalist with ACM in 2018 before moving on to cover news and court.
