Mount Martha Public Golf Course booked out as coronavirus restrictions ease
It’s been a long wait for Mornington Peninsula golfers keen to get back on the greens – but the game won’t be quite the same. Here’s what a round of golf will look like as players tee off again.
South East
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Eager golfers keen to get back on the green have booked up every tee time at Mt Martha golf course on Wednesday.
Trisha Brassington said the club house phone started ringing before 8am today and by early afternoon there was only a handful of tee times available for the entire week.
“We’ve been flat out all day. It’s been mad. I knew people had missed playing but even I was surprised by the demand,” Ms Brassington said.
“A lot of the bookings were made by the wives of golfers.
“I think everyone is very happy the restrictions on playing golf have been lifted!”
The club – the only one in the region owned by Mornington Peninsula Shire – has a raft of measures in place to protect players and staff.
These include only allowing one person per cart, keeping the club, bunker room and bar closed and refusing cash transactions.
Players will also be banned from drinking in the car park and hanging around the deck.
They will also be prohibited from touching flag poles on the course or raking bunkers.
Ms Brassington said tee times had also been reduced from once every seven minutes to once every 14.
“The idea is to give people plenty of time to spread out between tees,” she said.
Ms Brassington said the club was confident members and public players would do the right thing.
“We had some of these things in place before the shut down,” she said.
“Everyone has been social distancing in the supermarket and when exercising; I think they know how to do it by now.”
The Mount Martha course is open from 7am to 5pm.
There are about a dozen golf clubs on the Mornington Peninsula and all will be allowed to reopen from midnight Tuesday, May 12.
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The ban on golf was lifted yesterday (Monday, May 11) by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.
When making his announcement Mr Andrews stressed that some restrictions would remain in place to encourage social distancing and groups were limited to 10 people.
“You might be able to play golf, but there won’t be rakes in the bunkers, people won’t be milling around the clubhouse and it will be shut – the list goes on,” he said.