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Golf Lockdown Discussion No discussion of breaking Restrictions

Keano

Time to discuss what golf is going to look like for next year, maybe more, who knows.

What is your club doing? What would you like to see happen?

Mod note: we have done to death the restrictions(5k jumping to 20k in June) so this is not a thread for discussing that topic, take it to COVID-19 forum

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ForeRight

blue note wrote: »

12th April would be great. I'd love to have a solid date in the diary.

Ditto. I’d be happy with 12th or 19th once I know.
Obviously I’d prefer next Monday.

blue note

12th April would be great. I'd love to have a solid date in the diary.

Benicetomonty

Yeah, hearing the word 'phased' an awful lot. Obviously the idea is to the schools fully open first. No golf til the 12th of April the way it's going, if not later.
Desperately hope I'm wrong.

ForeRight

Golf unlikely for next Monday. More likely later in the month in an easing of restrictions if leaks are to be believed this afternoon.

PARlance

ForeRight wrote: »

It’s mad how socially distant lads get when it’s their round at the bar

You have to remember to forget the phone and wallet these days!!!

ForeRight

PARlance wrote: »

We all wear huge sombreros, can't get within 2m of each other.

It’s mad how socially distant lads get when it’s their round at the bar

Benicetomonty

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/golf/malachy-clerkin-the-golfmageddon-has-to-end-please-just-let-us-play-1.4522242?mode=amp&fbclid=IwAR0ynluhUOtbny8BREmLdBullevUsxNTOKdtCO41nxznwR0kA4Baamnc66c

PARlance

Kiith wrote: »

And this is what has probably pissed me off more then any other argument in this entire saga. "Optics" and "If golf is allowed, x needs to be allowed". Why should anything else automatically allowed because something else is. If you can show, with evidence, that an activity is not anymore of a risk then walking in the park, it should be allowed.

Outdoor, non-contact activities are as low risk as can be. Yet they give people a chance to actually enjoy themselves, and allowed a lot of clubs a chance to dig themselves out of the financial hole they are in.

We may need to remove water from any course though...guaranteed we all go in there :P

The only reason that it's hard to draw a line is that "elite" GAA is being bundled into it imo.

Outdoor non contact sport such as golf and tennis... Bar the serial complainers, the general population can see sense in this.

Underage sport for kids with safe methods... Again people can see the importance of this for children and can recognise that if they're back at school, that this is something where the benefit/importance is clear.

It's the bundling of "elite" GAA that makes the line hard to draw. They're not professionals, they can't bubble, it's a heavy contact sport... While the sell is that it's entertainment for the masses, that itself is a problem, especially when wet pubs and hotels were helping accomodate the entertainment.

The first 2 make sense to most people, the third is a political decision.

Kiith

ForeRight wrote: »

It’s not closed because it’s unsafe. It’s currently closed as if was allowed there is a domino effect behind it of industry after industry arguing their cause as they deem themselves safe also. It’s hard to draw a line in the sand as to what’s ok and what’s not without a can of worms being opened so I was always able to understand the logic of restrictions.

And this is what has probably pissed me off more then any other argument in this entire saga. "Optics" and "If golf is allowed, x needs to be allowed". Why should anything else automatically allowed because something else is. If you can show, with evidence, that an activity is not anymore of a risk then walking in the park, it should be allowed.

Outdoor, non-contact activities are as low risk as can be. Yet they give people a chance to actually enjoy themselves, and allowed a lot of clubs a chance to dig themselves out of the financial hole they are in.

ForeRight wrote: »

Masks are for when you can’t socially distance. If lads can’t keep 2m apart playing golf they should be barred. I know myself and my partners are always very distant. I’m usually right rough he’s usually left rough.

We may need to remove water from any course though...guaranteed we all go in there :P

PARlance

ForeRight wrote: »

Masks are for when you can’t socially distance. If lads can’t keep 2m apart playing golf they should be barred. I know myself and my partners are always very distant. I’m usually right rough he’s usually left rough.

We all wear huge sombreros, can't get within 2m of each other.

ForeRight

blackbox wrote: »

Has there been any talk of wearing masks whilst playing?

I'd be happy to if it meant getting out next month.

.

Masks are for when you can’t socially distance. If lads can’t keep 2m apart playing golf they should be barred. I know myself and my partners are always very distant. I’m usually right rough he’s usually left rough.

blackbox

Has there been any talk of wearing masks whilst playing?

I'd be happy to if it meant getting out next month.

.

11521323

newport2 wrote: »

This.

The more outdoor low-risk activities are restricted, the more indoor higher-risk events will happen. NPHET have confirmed themselves that people meeting indoors is where the cases are coming from. Make it easy for people to spend time outdoors on healthy activities.

I'm expecting golf to open, but suspect they will only increase 5k to 10k, making it unavailable to a lot of people. I hope I'm wrong about this.

I can see them doing that too, but again, most will ignore that and play anyway, and rightly so

Not because I agree with breaking restrictions but because I can't support nonsensical restrictions that lack evidence or reasonable logic.

newport2

ForeRight wrote: »

Why are people still banging the drum that golf is safe and there’s no scientific evidence of it being a lethal activity in terms of the virus?

Everyone knows it’s safe, nphet, government and the dogs in the street.

It’s not closed because it’s unsafe. It’s currently closed as if was allowed there is a domino effect behind it of industry after industry arguing their cause as they deem themselves safe also. It’s hard to draw a line in the sand as to what’s ok and what’s not without a can of worms being opened so I was always able to understand the logic of restrictions.

However I firmly believe now is the time for an easing of these restrictions given the vaccination of the population that largely threaten the hospital system.

5km in the bin now, kids play their sports, golf and tennis open, construction should open.

Pubs, restaurants, gyms etc I can understand they need a while longer before opening to assess how the minor opening up affects things.

This.

The more outdoor low-risk activities are restricted, the more indoor higher-risk events will happen. NPHET have confirmed themselves that people meeting indoors is where the cases are coming from. Make it easy for people to spend time outdoors on healthy activities.

I'm expecting golf to open, but suspect they will only increase 5k to 10k, making it unavailable to a lot of people. I hope I'm wrong about this.

11521323

ForeRight wrote: »

Why are people still banging the drum that golf is safe and there’s no scientific evidence of it being a lethal activity in terms of the virus?

Everyone knows it’s safe, nphet, government and the dogs in the street.

It’s not closed because it’s unsafe. It’s currently closed as if was allowed there is a domino effect behind it of industry after industry arguing their cause as they deem themselves safe also. It’s hard to draw a line in the sand as to what’s ok and what’s not without a can of worms being opened so I was always able to understand the logic of restrictions.

It's not that difficult to draw a line in the sand here. Outdoor, non-contact activities. I can't think of any other activity or sport that could argue for their safe return under that pretence without having to try and adequately rationalize further elements of risk that don't apply to golf or tennis.

I think we agree on the big-picture anyway. The time has passed where keeping low-risk, safe activities closed to 'restrict movement' is an acceptable measure to have in place.

ForeRight

Why are people still banging the drum that golf is safe and there’s no scientific evidence of it being a lethal activity in terms of the virus?

Everyone knows it’s safe, nphet, government and the dogs in the street.

It’s not closed because it’s unsafe. It’s currently closed as if was allowed there is a domino effect behind it of industry after industry arguing their cause as they deem themselves safe also. It’s hard to draw a line in the sand as to what’s ok and what’s not without a can of worms being opened so I was always able to understand the logic of restrictions.

However I firmly believe now is the time for an easing of these restrictions given the vaccination of the population that largely threaten the hospital system.

5km in the bin now, kids play their sports, golf and tennis open, construction should open.

Pubs, restaurants, gyms etc I can understand they need a while longer before opening to assess how the minor opening up affects things.

11521323

bustercherry wrote: »

What's that got to do with my post?

Plus it's not completely safe, it's deemed low risk. The only thing that is safe is staying the fcuk at home

Golf is closed because we are in level 5.Everything is closed to limit the movement and interactions of people from non-essential journeys.

The problem is the government need to enact policy that limits the spread/outbreaks but balance it with acceptable risk. Opening golf will have to coincide with other restrictions being lifted which in turn increases the cumulative risk (of all activities a person does) of catching or transmitting the virus not only within their own community but to other communities.

I hope it opens but there is plenty of scientific evidence to back up limiting the movement of people prevents the spread from communities.

I'm not going to get dragged into a discussion on why keeping everything closed perpetually isn't a good strategy. There are a number of things within society that present extremely low-risk where the cost-benefit of keeping them closed just doesn't support their continued closure.

The government will allow parks, beaches, golf courses (yes, the irony), etc. to be packed with people without any restriction but deem walking around a golf course with a bag of steel sticks unsafe.

The 'oh well it's to restrict movement' mantra works when people aren't moving about freely but the reality is, they are. Keeping courses closed, based on the current state of reality and what is currently happening within the country, is nonsensical.

I can see your point and would tend to agree if people were actually respecting the current restrictions RE: limiting movement but they're not, basing restrictions on a fantasy of what you would like to happen is ridiculous.

Mantis Toboggan

Any leaks for the government yet?

blue note

RGS wrote: »

I'm not anti GAA I played the game for over 25 years and still miss the playing.

But inter county is for the elite of the sport. There wont be any GAA on TV in April, so your argument about people watching is moot.

If the league started back why wouldn't they show it on TV? I'm sure they'll be some training before it but that'll be needed regardless of when it starts back.

Ivefoundgod

bustercherry wrote: »

Does it? Have you ever competed at elite level to back this up?

Not to be too blunt about it, but we're in a global pandemic. If they can't get themselves organised to play fixtures within that time frame then tough **** to be honest. Every sport has been impacted by it, including professional leagues all over the world having reduced training, reduced time with coaches and in the case of NFL and NBA last year had little to no training time with new draft players. They still managed to play the season. GAA would want to get a grip if they're going to start saying that's not enough time to run off a season. They're amateurs after all, can't have it both ways.

At this point there would have been a full league campaign and club GAA. Also there are commercial rationals for getting inter county GAA up and running sooner.

Golf has commercial rationale behind it returning too, as does every sport in the country to be frank, why should GAA get priority in this respect?

It's completely illogical to compare elite amateur sport to club golf. I think it should and hope golf opens; but as as I pointed out using inter county GAA (non-contact) training as a reference equates to elite amateur golfers only being allowed out to practice, so they can prepare for the elite amateur comps. How many of those are you eligible for?

I could make the same point about GAA to be fair, to compare Dublin against my own county or many other small counties is completely illogical too. Also not sure where the non-contact is coming from but I don't think anyone would be naive enough to think that GAA teams would go back to non-contact training. They couldn't even help themselves when there was no training allowed at all given we had two instances where inter county teams were caught training. I'm not anti-GAA at all but I just don't get the argument that inter county GAA is more beneficial to the public than golf or tennis.

bustercherry

11521323 wrote: »

I'm not clear where you stand on this but there is zero scientific evidence or rational logic to support the closure of golf courses. ~10% of the population play occasionally (which logically could be regularly now that everything else is closed) and it's completely safe (at least as safe as going to a park or for a walk on the street)

Every other country on the planet have also acknowledged the above besides us if they remain closed any longer. It's farcical they were ever closed to begin with.

What's that got to do with my post?

Plus it's not completely safe, it's deemed low risk. The only thing that is safe is staying the fcuk at home

Golf is closed because we are in level 5.Everything is closed to limit the movement and interactions of people from non-essential journeys.

The problem is the government need to enact policy that limits the spread/outbreaks but balance it with acceptable risk. Opening golf will have to coincide with other restrictions being lifted which in turn increases the cumulative risk (of all activities a person does) of catching or transmitting the virus not only within their own community but to other communities.

I hope it opens but there is plenty of scientific evidence to back up limiting the movement of people prevents the spread from communities.

RGS

blue note wrote: »

Allowing intercounty is entirely for the masses. The idea is that you let a couple thousand people compete under strict guidelines and hundreds of thousands will watch them on TV each week and have something to follow.

But I expect as before most people here will ignore that, talk about "GAA being open" as opposed to .1% of GAA being open. It's amazing how much people can see what they want to see.

I'm not anti GAA I played the game for over 25 years and still miss the playing.

But inter county is for the elite of the sport. There wont be any GAA on TV in April, so your argument about people watching is moot.

11521323

bustercherry wrote: »

Does it? Have you ever competed at elite level to back this up?

At this point there would have been a full league campaign and club GAA. Also there are commercial rationals for getting inter county GAA up and running sooner.

It's completely illogical to compare elite amateur sport to club golf. I think it should and hope golf opens; but as as I pointed out using inter county GAA (non-contact) training as a reference equates to elite amateur golfers only being allowed out to practice, so they can prepare for the elite amateur comps. How many of those are you eligible for?

I'm not clear where you stand on this but there is zero scientific evidence or rational logic to support the closure of golf courses. ~10% of the population play occasionally (which logically could be regularly now that everything else is closed) and it's completely safe (at least as safe as going to a park or for a walk on the street)

Every other country on the planet have also acknowledged the above besides us if they remain closed any longer. It's farcical they were ever closed to begin with.

The Big Easy

Let's be positive, avoid the leaks, and hope for April 12th at the very least

bustercherry

Ivefoundgod wrote: »

Quick google gives me this, so 265k watched the 2019 league final, not exactly massive. https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/broadcasting-pendulum-swings-back-to-gaelic-games-in-2019-1.4142313

I think even most GAA people would admit the league is of a lot less interest to a anyone outside the hardcore GAA fan.

Right but I didn't actually say I expect them to pick up and resume without training. I am saying the All Ireland isn't due to start until a few months time, I'd have no issue with GAA coming back in a months time when we're further along the vaccination journey, that allows plenty of time to get back up and running with training and time to run off the All Ireland as well.

I don't think there is time to run off the leagues and All Ireland to be honest and the club season looks like a write off at this stage as well IMO.

Anyway I'm getting sidetracked, my point is I don't think its logical to allow inter county GAA resume but not golf or tennis, that's it.

Does it? Have you ever competed at elite level to back this up?

At this point there would have been a full league campaign and club GAA. Also there are commercial rationals for getting inter county GAA up and running sooner.

It's completely illogical to compare elite amateur sport to club golf. I think it should and hope golf opens; but as as I pointed out using inter county GAA (non-contact) training as a reference equates to elite amateur golfers only being allowed out to practice, so they can prepare for the elite amateur comps. How many of those are you eligible for?

Wombatman

The shadow of "Golfgate" and the famous Tullamore Golf outing could really go against us in the final analysis.

Kiith

A co-worker of mine who has a friend in the HSE told me he's been told that golf will the go-ahead next week, though it may tie into a deal being done with the GAA.

Reminds me of this tbh :P

1JHXYWG9EcWymj3D_BbAQOWDZf-XRBJQhSDRviK2bIZLcbvybCvaZ1Gj7pOksNZvsrjhrhHjbLipbR1Iho--l1cfdiwoRyJLrLnRvwB3QTQPYIpVCnOlUC2-ZJlNUMRunMsJGe8ewtGmKvJfW1gZGsNUL2QciDNC2K0

1JHXYWG9EcWymj3D_BbAQOWDZf-XRBJQhSDRviK2bIZLcbvybCvaZ1Gj7pOksNZvsrjhrhHjbLipbR1Iho--l1cfdiwoRyJLrLnRvwB3QTQPYIpVCnOlUC2-ZJlNUMRunMsJGe8ewtGmKvJfW1gZGsNUL2QciDNC2K0

11521323

whitefoot wrote: »

Does anyone know of any other country apart from Ireland in the R&A Top 20 by quantity of courses, that could be still closed on the 12th April?

I know US, Australia, England & Sotland would certainly be open by that date.

Top 20 golfing countries(by no. of courses)

Country
United States16,752
Japan 3,169
Canada 2,633
England 2,270
Australia 1,616
Germany 1,050

France 804
Korea, Republic Of 798

Sweden 662 Scotland 614

China 599
Spain 497
Ireland 494
South Africa 489
New Zealand 418

Argentina 349
Denmark 346
Netherlands 330

Italy 321
Thailand 315

Not aware of any other country on the planet come April 2nd that will still have courses closed.

whitefoot

Does anyone know of any other country apart from Ireland in the R&A Top 20 by quantity of courses, that could be still closed on the 12th April?

I know US, Australia, England & Sotland would certainly be open by that date.

Top 20 golfing countries(by no. of courses)

Country
United States16,752
Japan 3,169
Canada 2,633
England 2,270
Australia 1,616
Germany 1,050

France 804
Korea, Republic Of 798

Sweden 662 Scotland 614

China 599
Spain 497
Ireland 494
South Africa 489
New Zealand 418

Argentina 349
Denmark 346
Netherlands 330

Italy 321
Thailand 315

Finlay Harp

I’m confused as to why some on here are predicting four balls on return.
I’m getting out on Thursday in the North in a two ball as per GUI instructions and government guidelines and I’m more than happy to just be getting out.
Surely that’s what’s coming in the Republic when golf reopens?