Apr 28, 2020 4 min read

David Wylie joked one week ago that his crystal ball hadn’t been working.

Falling under the category of small business owner, Wylie, like many others, had more questions than answers about when golf courses in Pennsylvania would be allowed to reopen.

“That’s the million-dollar question,” Wylie said. “I would hope there would be some small-scale opening on May 8 but wouldn’t be surprised if that gets extended. As far as how long I can be able to keep up, that’s a good question. I’ll do the best I can as long as I can.”

Wylie didn’t feel the impact of the coronavirus pandemic shutdown at only one of his businesses, but rather at three. He is the owner of Lindenwood Golf Club in North Strabane Township, Chippewa Golf Club in Bentleyville and Rolling Green Golf Course in Eighty Four.

All golf courses across the commonwealth were deemed nonessential and were forced to close March 20.

And for the last several weeks, mowers have kept the grass at appropriate lengths, pesticides have been sprayed and bills have needed to be paid. The problem for Wylie and the rest of course owners in Pennsylvania is golf hasn’t been able to be played.

However, on Monday afternoon Gov. Tom Wolf announced the reopening of limited outdoor recreational activities to help Pennsylvanians maintain positive physical and mental health. Starting Friday, golf courses, marinas, guided fishing trips and privately owned campgrounds are permitted to reopen statewide but must follow updated life-sustaining businesses guidelines.

If anything, the decision does well for the mental health of Wylie, who has been forced to tell about half of his staff who works at the courses to stay at home because there are no golfers.

“It’s quite a relief,” Wylie said. “I haven’t gotten any specific guidelines, but it’s a total surprise. I can’t tell you just how relieved I am that we get to open.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s statewide guidelines remain intact, including maintaining social distancing, a rule that golfers say is part of the spread-out sport to begin with.

“Practicing social distancing takes a little planning and patience, but it is necessary if we want to continue to flatten the curve while ensuring that Pennsylvanians have opportunities to de-stress and get exercise,” Wolf said in a press release. “Finding the balance between enjoying the outdoors and staying safe is only possible when all Pennsylvanians are abiding by the same precautions. It’s critical that all Pennsylvanians adhere to the safety guidelines to allow for these outdoor activities to remain available to the public.”

As far as rules golf courses need to follow, Wylie said he will oblige to whatever mandates exist.

“We can do our best and probably be fairly safe,” he said. “With the support of customers, because they too have to be prudent in the way they play and stay away from others, we can certainly make that happen. We will follow the advice and intellect of leaders we put into office and health professionals.”

Late last week, state Rep. Bill Kortz, D-Allegheny, was planning on introducing a bill that would allow golf courses to reopen. Some of the provisions listed in his legislation were that clubhouses would remain closed; a no-contact payment method; golf cart sanitation after each use; only one golfer per cart; all employees and golfers would be required to wear masks. and the flag at the hole would not allowed to be removed or touched at any time.

The only restrictions laid out by the governor state that there are to be no gatherings of any kind and social distancing of six feet between individuals. Golf carts must be single-occupant-only, and employees can’t be present for the purposes of “facilitating play.”

Wylie has lost money from events that were planned at his golf courses, including outings and non-golf events like weddings and bridal and baby showers that can be held in the clubhouses. Those events are still prohibited.

The approach, while limited, is a step in reopening the state. It is also the latest step Wolf has taken to clarify the list of essential businesses and services that can be open during the COVID-19 crisis. In recent weeks, many golfers from Washington and Greene counties had taken to playing at West Virginia courses, which were open for business.

“It was disappointing to have the crews take care of the courses and we weren’t having any golf on weeks we should be busy,” Wylie said. “We can do an excellent job at going by whatever guidelines; we just need the help of the public and our customers.”