Local golf courses continue to reopen, adjust to new guidelines

Golf courses around the Coachella Valley are continuing to reopen, while adjusting to a new normal.

“We’re learning as we’re going. I think we’re overdoing it, which, for caution, is not a bad thing,” said Jennifer Dammeyer, General Manager of Shadow Mountain Golf Club in Palm Desert.

At Shadow Mountain Golf Club, tee times have been spread out and hours of operation shortened to ease back safely.

“Just 15 minute intervals, where there’s enough space in between the players for their feeling comfortable and for us to be comfortable that they’re not all going to be jammed up on tees and green areas that they could be too close to each other,” Dammeyer said.

The biggest challenge has been getting golfers to wear masks the entire time playing, especially with the heat. Local courses have been making sure to enforce these guidelines.

“Some people hate wearing the masks, you’ll have to tell them multiple times. Look, unfortunately, that’s the law, if you don’t like it, we can’t have you on the golf course, it’s just simple as that," said Kaitlyn Ellis, an assistant golf professional at Monterey Country Club. "It sucks, because you don’t want to be that bad guy, but at the same time, safety and priority of the members and staff is number one and we have to follow that.”

“I’m going to be making runs around the golf course, don’t be that person that’s not wearing their mask like everybody else is, because then I’ll have to take action from there and I don’t want to do that. I want to keep everybody safe,” Dammeyer said.

The golf community is thrilled to be back and local golf professionals want to make sure it stays that way.

“When people hear golf courses are open, that’s all they think about. They don’t think about all the rules that come with that. I think that’s what they need to understand, is that, yes, they gave us something, they gave us golf courses open, but they will take it back if we’re not following the guidelines,” Ellis said.