Fore! Local golfers thrilled to tee it up again
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter/
Golf carts get ready to hit the course in May 2020 at Rolling Green Golf Course in Eighty Four.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
From left, Yolanda Snyder, Melissa Schuster and Tricia Lewis finish a round of golf.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Beverly Fossum takes a payment from a customer at Rolling Green Golf Course Saturday.
The official opening of the state’s golf courses was Friday, a dark, dreary day with temperatures barely above 50 degrees.
Many of the tee times were canceled as golfers decided to stay in and stay warm.
But Saturday, now that was the day to play golf. Bright, sunny and warm.
And at one such course, Rolling Green Golf Course in Eighty Four, the parking lot was packed and it was easy to guess that there were smiles under the masks as they filed through to pay for their golf game.
“I haven’t played in six months, haven’t swung a club in six months,” said one masked man.
“I’ve seen your swing. It wouldn’t matter if you did,” joked his buddy.
“Where did you get that mask?” said the other. “Somewhere out there, a racehorse is missing its blanket.”
One of the first foursomes to finish up at Rolling Green happened to be three women and a man. None of them kept score.
“I’m only here for the beer,” said Yolanda Snyder of Eighty Four. “We had fun.”
The group was pretty typical of those who teed off yesterday, relaxed, appreciative of the sunny day and warm temperatures that were supposed to reach the 70s.
Scores aren’t really the important thing this early in the season. Besides, haven’t you heard? The only person who lies more than a politician about his record is a golfer about his score.
None of this would’ve been possible had Gov. Tom Wolf not opened the golf courses across the state Friday, appeasing many of the cooped-up people from his stay-in order because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Wolf gave the order to open just a few days ago and that caught many by surprise, especially Beverly Fossum of Taylorstown, who runs Rolling Green for owner David Wylie.
Fossum, who has been working at the course for more than four decades, had to get the course to meet new standards required by Gov. Wolf. That included disinfecting the carts and limiting them to one person, making sure people stayed the proper distance from one another, and making sure she could get back all the people who worked there and do so in short order.
While all this was new to her, Fossum operated like she had been doing this all her life and her staff was magnificent. There were no long lines in the morning rush hour, golfers paid with debit or credit cards and carts were easily available. A temporary plastic shield was in place at the spot along the counter where golfers paid.
“Everybody is happy to be back playing golf again,” said Fossum. “Everyone has been pretty good following the rules. Friday was a trial day to let us know how much time for the turnover of carts for groups coming through.”
Fossum scheduled a couple tee times for golfers who wished to walk in between those who wished to ride carts, a smart idea to make sure carts were available for anyone who wanted one. This allowed time needed for the sanitizing of the cart. Every place a body would make contact with the cart was sprayed down, from the steering wheel to the straps that held the bags on in the back.
Fossum had the luxury of having Jared Thorn of Finleyville next to her in the main building. The veteran of two decades working at Rolling Green, he was able to jump effortlessly from one job to the next whenever needed.
“I’ll be here 12 hours, which is typical for a day like today,” Thorn said. “Everybody has been waiting for this day.”