Palm Springs allows golf, tennis and pickleball to resume
Pickleball and tennis will be allowed to resume Monday in Palm Springs, but only singles play will be allowed after golf courses in the city reopened over the weekend but with restrictions.
Golfers are required to follow social distancing guidelines created by the National Golf Course Owners Association, which typically include one-person-per-cart guidelines and other requirements.
The City Council voted 5-0 Thursday night to lift restrictions put in place due to COVID-19 that halted golf, tennis and pickleball in the city, and stymied multi-person swimming sessions at non-private pools.
“The council agreed ... that, because residents in Palm Springs have worked hard to flatten the virus curve, it is now safer to begin public play of certain recreational sports again,'' a city statement reads.
Golf was allowed to resume Saturday, given “city approval of course compliance plans'' by individual golf courses, the city said. In late April the par-72 North Course at the Indian Canyons Golf Resort became the first course in Palm Springs to reopen with added safety precautions.
The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, which as a sovereign nation operates the course on tribal land, was not beholden to the citywide golf stoppage that has been in place since March 24. The tribe closed its courses and all its other business enterprises, including its two casinos, in mid-March after declaring a state of emergency itself in response to the pandemic.
Pickleball and tennis will be allowed to resume on Monday in Palm Springs, but only singles play will be allowed. And effective immediately, multiple people can now swim at private community pools -- like those owned by homeowners associations -- as long as swimmers stay at least 6 feet apart from each other.
Patio furniture is allowed, as well, as long as it gets sanitized at intervals, and social distancing is practiced.
The public pool at the Palm Springs Swim Center remains closed.
