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Basketball, football, and hockey are not the best sports to do at this time, as these are all contact sports and might accelerate the positive cases that abound almost every country in the world. So what can we do this weekend that can perhaps take our minds off this crisis and even help boost our immune system? Golf! Golfing in the time of COVID-19 is possible and feasible, provided that you follow several precautionary measures to avoid adding to the already growing infection.
Don’t play on the range. Golfing on the driving range takes players to be too close to each other, aside from the fact that you wouldn’t know who touched the range balls you’re using. Do some ‘breakfast ball’ in the mid-afternoon on hole one, and maybe you can have some goulash while on that round.
Skip the golf cart. A five-mile walk will you much good while bringing your golf stuff. And besides, pushing your cart makes a great exercise. Additionally, even if the driving range staff says that they cleaned the range pretty well, the grounds harbor thousands of germs.
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Distance yourself from your golf buddies. You may be playing with your closest friends, but you still need to maintain social distancing to protect everyone, and each of you should understand that. To be safe, use the six-feet rule even when playing. Instead of the usual handshake for greeting, do the fist or elbow bumps but not so often. In fact, a thumbs-up will suffice.
Wash your golf towel before you leave. It’s your best defense at this time. When you wash your hands, wash your golf towel, grips and golf clubs as well. It’ll probably only have your germs on them, but it’s always good to clean them. You might never have washed those grips before, right?
Most golf courses turn their golf cups over or insert a device inside the hole, so when the ball goes in, it doesn’t drop entirely to the cup’s bottom. This way, the golfer avoids putting his hand into the hole to get the ball. There is evidence confirming that putting improves by using a two-dimensional cup instead of utilizing the usual 3D cup.
Source: pxfuel.com
The ball washer is no good at this time. Proper handwashing is very crucial during this pandemic, so don’t take shortcuts for your hygiene. Also, wet a small part of your golf towel so you can clean dirt and grass stains from your ball. You can use it to clean your golf club too. If you are too careful and a COVID-19 conformist and don’t want to use your towel, carry some hand wipes at all times.
Wear golf gloves on both hands. You can find rain gloves in the supermarket or golf stores near you. Don’t think so much about how funny you will look or that your game might change because of the gloves. Your mental golf gaming mates may probably laugh, but they’ll admit that it’s a great strategy to keep yourself protected from the virus while you’re able to play golf.
It’s okay to leave the flagstick at this time. Do what you can to prevent touching less of things that are possibly infected with the virus. Besides, it’s not a penalty if the ball hits a flagstick that was left uncollected – that’s according to the modified guidelines of golf, which were effected in January of 2019. This also hastens the game and benefits you as a player to some extent when the ball hits the flagstick.
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Don’t use the rakes yourself. You don’t need to rake the golf course yourself if it hasn’t been raked. Just remove the balls from the bunker and drop them using your club. By avoiding yourself from going into the bunkers, there is a higher likelihood that you won’t be hitting balls and dropping them there.
You can do without the 19th hole!