BRYAN, TX — As some businesses remain closed, Brazos Valley golf courses have made alterations to remain open throughout the shelter in place ordinances.
Miramont Country Club in Bryan, Texas has made changes to their golf course to allow its member to golf while following shelter in place restrictions
"Our primary focus obviously was safety and keeping everyone safe," explains Miramont's General Manager, Aaron Dawson. "So, what we’ve done is we see the golf course as recreation, our members can come use it whether they want to go for a walk or play golf. We’ve asked them to bring their own things. We’ve put little inserts in the holes so the ball actually go in there so they can pick it up without having to touch the flag."
Golf courses have removed sand bunker rakes, closed all facilities to golfers and are only allowing one person to a golf cart.
“A lot of our members didn’t have push carts so our Director of Golf was ingenious and worked out a deal with one of our vendors and shipped them straight to their house," says Dawson. "So, that was a really great way to be able to get them a resource that was going to be helpful for them to enjoy some outdoor recreation."
While golf courses are not an essential business, Bryan’s Mayor Andrew Nelson says he's absolutely supporting staying active during shelter in place.
"Just like riding your bike or running or doing other exercises we actually want to encourage people to exercise and enjoy the weather but you have to do it keep six feet apart and social distancing and golf allows you to do that,” says Mayor Nelson.
As the city works to open businesses back up, Mayor Nelson advocates that golf courses and business alike continue to practice some separation.
“We anticipate that every business has to rethink every business process,"says Mayor Nelson. "It's really more about a social distancing order not a stay at your home forever and never go outside order. Whether its playing golf, whether its getting back to business, if we can keep social distancing and minimize the spread we will get back to much of the life we’ve always enjoyed.”