We’re all in this together: One club’s ingenious way to help its members through lockdown
Golf has been one of the few things that has seemed normal in these coronavirus times – and it’s moved one manager to rally round her local clubs to ensure members can still get a round in.
Vale of Llangollen’s Hayley Henson has teamed up with a quartet of courses around the North Wales and English borders to offer members reciprocal arrangements if they can’t get to the club to play.
More than half the population of Wales has been subject to tighter lockdown rules as coronavirus cases have soared in recent weeks, while First Minister Mark Drakeford has urged people to travel across the country only if it is essential.
That has meant members living in different counties to their club have been unable to play because of local lockdown rules.
So Hayley got in touch with the managers at Oswestry, Henlle, Wrexham and Padeswood & Buckley to discuss the possibility of making provisions for members to play at each other’s clubs while the restrictions continued.
“Golf is essential for mental as well as physical well-being and I thought it important to do whatever I could to ensure members to continued to play, albeit at another club during lockdown,” she said.
“I have been overwhelmed by the positive response from the golf club managers I have spoken to and I am happy to say that I have managed to secure courtesy playing times at clubs for our members, and invited members from their clubs to ours, and I would like to thank them all personally.”
Hayley added: “We’re all in the same position as we all have members who are resident in different counties to their clubs, meaning they cannot play while in local lockdown.
“I spoke to them about how we all want to keep our members playing safely during this time and how we could work together to do this.”
At Oswestry, who are offering the arrangement to golfers at Wrexham and Vale of Llangollen, secretary John Evans said: “We have a number of members from the Wrexham and Denbighshire areas and we are aware of a number of members from our region who play their golf in Wrexham and Denbighshire. As such we felt the best option to ensure golfers can still play was to share spaces for golfers locked down.”
How is your club coping with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic? Let me know in the comments, or tweet me.
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Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
