Melbourne coronavirus sport: Sam Newman upset about golf COVID rules
Sam Newman has lashed out at Premier Daniel Andrews after his wait to hit the golf course was extended on Sunday. Tennis players — who can’t hit the court — were also left scratching their heads after outdoor pools were allowed to reopen.
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Sam Newman was one of many Victorians left frustrated by Sunday’s adjusted road map announcement.
Premier Daniel Andrews revealed the relaxing of a number of harsh stage four restrictions at his press conference following lower case numbers in metropolitan Melbourne.
Unfortunately for Newman — and other golfers — the new measures didn’t include being able to hit the golf course, but did include the use of outdoor pools and personal training sessions.
The Geelong champion and former Footy Show host took aim at the Premier on Twitter, labelling him as “Victoria’s dopey Joe Biden”.
“Andrews has become Victoria’s dopey Joe Biden,” Newman tweeted.
“To say communal swimming is OK (because it doesn’t require a facility), but golf is not, shows the IQ required of an elected official.
“Unwittingly, he has given consent for sedition.”
Andrews has become Victoria’s dopey Joe Biden. To say communal swimming is ok (because it doesn’t require a facility), but GOLF is not, shows the IQ required of an elected official. Unwittingly, he has given consent for sedition. #victorialockdown
— Sam Newman (@Origsmartassam) September 27, 2020
Newman also gave a serve to Magda Szubanski who suggested it might be time for golfers to stop “hogging the commons” and have courses turned into parkland.
Szubanski said Newman wouldn’t be happy with the idea.
When replying to a tweet about turning theatres into public housing for the same reason, Szubanski said “theatres are a great use of space as lots of people get to enjoy them”.
But Newman shot back and said “more people get to use golf courses than all the theatres by a factor of 100. What sport do you play?”
More people get to use golf courses than all the theaters by a factor of 100. What sport do you play?
— Sam Newman (@Origsmartassam) September 28, 2020
Golfing enthusiast from the southeastern suburbs Brett Poll said he was sick of not being able to use local courses.
“How many people have contracted COVID on the golf course?” Mr Poll said.
“How can playgrounds and swimming pools be back open but golf courses aren’t.”
In a statement, Golf Australia said it was disappointed with the Victorian Government’s announcement.
“Golf Australia believe that under strict and specific safety protocols that golf can be played at minimal risk to the public,” the statement read.
“The physical and mental health benefits that our sport provides are extremely important to our community.
“Golf Australia will continue to advocate for a return of our sport in metropolitan Melbourne as soon as possible.”
Golf Australia statement regarding ongoing Melbourne golf closure https://t.co/OeingEGePu
— Golf Australia (@GolfAust) September 27, 2020
Meanwhile, tennis players and clubs have also been left in the lurch by the announcement.
Coach and former hitting partner of Serena Williams Mark Hlawaty said Tennis Victoria had sent out a pre-emptive email last week to coaches saying it expected tennis to be up and running on Monday.
“Our hopes were certainly up and we started contacting clients to let them know we might be back on Monday,” Mr Hlawaty said.
“But to get the news we couldn’t reopen just made me feel flat and the clients feels flat, it was another punch to the stomach.”
Mr Hlawaty said he had another 10 coaches working with him who were now on Jobkeeper and struggling to make ends meet, but felt some sort of luck they could at least received that.
He said it was important with kids doing homeschooling to get them active again as soon as possible.
Wes Hoskins, who owns Futures Tennis in East Malvern, said he was left devastated by the announcement.
“Like most people I couldn’t believe the inconsistencies with the announcement and people being able to swim and do personal training, or continuing to ride bikes next to each other with no face masks, but not play tennis 26m apart,” he said.
“We were one of the last sports to close down last time so thought we’d be one of the first to open up this time.
“I mean, schools are going to be back with packed classrooms of kids right next to each other before we can hold a private lesson with one student.”
Mr Hoskins said 12 of his 15 staff were on Jobkeeper and he was still paying for court hire and overheads.
“The staff are on the breadline now and we might not be able to keep them which is shattering because they’ve held the business up at times,” he said.
“We are all just frustrated.”
Semi-professional tennis player Damien Pound said it was “frustrating” the sport had been non-existent for eight weeks.
“Melbourne is the only place in the world where you can’t play tennis and it’s one of the top three participatory sports in Australia,” Mr Pound said.
“Tennis is a social-distanced sport because you’re never within 1.5m of your opponent.”
Mr Pound said tennis clubs across the state had COVID-safe plans in place.
“All the clubs have had this in place since April, the change rooms, the meeting facilities and everything has been closed so you can’t meet down the club like you used to,” he said.
“The risk is minimal. I just don’t understand why the Government is doing this — tennis needs to come back today.”
St Andrews Tennis Club manager Gerard Douglas said it was disappointing tennis was still restricted.
“It’s very frustrating because we believe the game can be monitored safely … there are dozens of young kids who would normally play tennis with absolutely nothing to do at the moment,” Mr Douglas said.
“I do understand and truly support the government decisions, however from a tennis-perspective it’s frustrating that people can’t exercise and keep their skill level up.”
An online petition started by Delyth Samuel to allow tennis to be played during lockdown had almost 1200 signatures as of Tuesday morning.
“Tennis has been forgotten in the road map to reopening,” she said.
“Tennis has been proven time and time again to be a low risk outdoor activity.
“Tennis coaches are almost all sole operators whose businesses have been decimated this year.
“ … There is no reason for clubs to remain closed. Please change the road map and allow our tennis courts to be open next week.”
While outdoor personal training sessions for up to two clients can resume, indoor gyms remain closed.
But fitness guru Tony Doherty, who owns Doherty’s Gym and is the promoter of Arnold Sports Festival Australia, told the Leader last week talks with the DHHS are progressing well and he hopes they will reopen within the next month.
“Prof Alen Cheng and his department were most accommodating in giving us an opportunity to present our case and explain the lengths we’re willing to go to make sure our patrons are safe in gymnasiums across Victoria,” he said.
“Gyms are safe places because we manage the hygiene in the best possible way and some of the concerns they had were explained satisfactorily and they can go away with a fresh set of eyes and hopefully it means we can open as soon as possible.”
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