COVID-19 and golf

[em69]

Ford was doing great and I have been impressed....up until today. Zero direction, lack of clarity and no timelines. This roadmap doesn't even indicate when businesses can expect to reopen in the stages. How does a business plan around this roadmap...they can't.

[EagleEagle]

Ford was doing great and I have been impressed....up until today. Zero direction, lack of clarity and no timelines. This roadmap doesn't even indicate when businesses can expect to reopen in the stages. How does a business plan around this roadmap...they can't.

I agree, no idea when we are going back to work.Figured he would have used one of the models they have been relying on.
Quebec has given firm dates at least with school. Wonder if we will be able to get across the river to play there.
A lot of courses were just hanging on before this hit.

[Gobble_It]

Ford was doing great and I have been impressed....up until today. Zero direction, lack of clarity and no timelines. This roadmap doesn't even indicate when businesses can expect to reopen in the stages. How does a business plan around this roadmap...they can't.

I'm sure they are working on the details on the background. They certainly want to be cautious in case there is a spike (testing changes, spread, outbreak etc..) in new cases from now to the TBD phase 1 datte. Of course they can announce a date and stop it if they have to but people will be just as upset as with no date.



Ford will announce a "phase 1 date" in the coming days probably closer to the end of this week. After Victoria long weekend is my bet for phase 1.



As far as golf courses , whether they will be allowed to be open in phase 1 or not, it would be just a small help. They have pretty much lose all the income from tournaments, restaurant, and pro shops. Some will not survive after this year and it's too bad.

[justsomeguy]

Ford was doing great and I have been impressed....up until today. Zero direction, lack of clarity and no timelines. This roadmap doesn't even indicate when businesses can expect to reopen in the stages. How does a business plan around this roadmap...they can't.

The link I posted is the summary - if you want more details you have to click on "Read our framework for reopening the province" on that page to get to a 13-page Adobe Acrobat document. The section that I thought was interesting was this:

The government will reopen Ontario businesses and public spaces gradually. This will be based on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health... Each stage will last for approximately two-to-four-week periods to allow for close monitoring of any impacts or potential resurgence of cases. After each two-to-four-week period, the Chief Medical Officer of Health may advise to:
•Reapply or tighten certain public health measures in response to a surge in cases or outbreaks;•Maintain status quo and continue close monitoring of impacts; or•Progress to the next two-to-four-week stage.

So that means 6 weeks minimum, probably more like 12 weeks - but could be more if there is a resurgence. What were you expecting? Nobody can make detailed plans around this - especially when success or failure ultimately depends on the individual actions of millions of people.

[em69]

Do we know specifically when courses in Quebec will open? I think a road trip to Heritage or the Tremblant area is in my future.

[mikelaurin]

Unless U are Trudeau Quebec border is closed , I think around June 1st golf courses will open , hopefully

[Gofish2]

Unless U are Trudeau Quebec border is closed , I think around June 1st golf courses will open , hopefully

I think the enforcement of border crossing is variable depending on the bridge. My friend has a business in Grenville Quebec directly across from Hawkesbury and half his customers (probably most buying beer) are from the Ontario side. I last spoke to him a week ago and asked if any of his clients were having issues at the bridge and he reported that there were no problems.

[cpal]

I'd imagine the presence in Gatineau is quite different than other border areas.

[justdoit]

I'd imagine the presence in Gatineau is quite different than other border areas.

So I live in aylmer..last Sunday out on the bike crossed into Ottawa via pont champlain just a quick test..came back 20 minutes later was pulled over and questioned..while being interrogated 4 cyclists passed by me and the officer not one being stopped.senseless

[cpal]

So I live in aylmer..last Sunday out on the bike crossed into Ottawa via pont champlain just a quick test..came back 20 minutes later was pulled over and questioned..while being interrogated 4 cyclists passed by me and the officer not one being stopped.senseless

That entire endeavor is an insane waste of resources. Hopefully they stop as of May 4.

[MikeRaganold]

16,512+ thread views since MAR 15, 2020.

More interesting reads, observations, opinions and more...

From GolfNorth email received this morning May 1, 2020 at 11:57AM EST

Q: When do you anticipate opening your Ontario golf courses?

GN: Golf courses in virtually all U.S. states, along with British Columbia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island are currently open. Golf Courses are scheduled to open May 2nd in Alberta, May 4th in Manitoba, May 11th in Newfoundland and Labrador and May 15th in Saskatchewan. Given the recent statements by Quebec’s Premier, golf courses in Quebec will most likely open by mid-May. In light of this barrage of course openings throughout North America, and although the Ontario government has yet to provide an exact date for opening its golf courses, we are optimistic that we will be permitted to open by mid to late May.

read entire email, click here.

[Marcos]

We are expecting news from our premier around the 4th of May. This is the latest update so far. Crossing our fingers.

[1800Duffers]

According to Steven Blais, Stage 1 includes parks and outdoor spaces, hope that will include golf courses. The Quebec border isn't closed, police are restricting crossings on a few bridges. They are random and one can easily find out when and where they are. Terrible use of resources, they could help out at nursing/seniors homes instead of the military!

[justdoit]

[QUOTE=1800Duffers;564428]According to Steven Blais, Stage 1 includes parks and outdoor spaces, hope that will include golf courses. The Quebec border isn't closed, police are restricting crossings on a few bridges. They are random and one can easily find out when and where they are. Terrible use of resources, they could help out at nursing/seniors homes instead of the military![/QU

[justdoit]

[QUOTE=justdoit;564429]

According to Steven Blais, Stage 1 includes parks and outdoor spaces, hope that will include golf courses. The Quebec border isn't closed, police are restricting crossings on a few bridges. They are random and one can easily find out when and where they are. Terrible use of resources, they could help out at nursing/seniors homes instead of the military![/QU

do you have an app on your phone telling you where the police checkpoints and times are,living in aylmer and curious

[1800Duffers]

I'm respecting the stay at home rules and not crossing, hope they lift the restrictions soon or I'll have to buy expensive Ontario beer.

[1800Duffers]

Google maps and cell phones display the blockages.

[Marcos]

They are also checking vehicles crossing into Ontario. Get stopped on a regular basis and asked where i am going in Ottawa. Unfortunatly i have a 75 year old brother who has health issues and lives alone in Vanier, so my wife makes him meals and we shop for groceries for him here in Quebec. Never had a problem so far. We also are not permitted in the Outaouais area to go from one region to the other as a precautionary measure.Again i understand. I hope this helps to clarify things a bit.

[White Light]

In the Gatineau region you can circulate at will within the Gatineau region and the MRC des Collines region. Pretty big area for pleasure drives.

Golf courses in Quebec are planning to open in May. Ours on May 15.

[Lucky]

Jason Lusk at Golfweek with the details from the NGF's latest recon..."More than half the golf courses in the United States are now open for the first time in more than a month, according to this week's Covid-19 update by the National Golf Foundation."

If you watch CNN you get an idea as to just how much more ahead of the game the USA is right now; cities and states are aggressively moving ahead, with plans for almost every type of business. And, they're doing it in thoughtful ways...yeah, you can actually do that!

Look at other parts of the world as well; same scenarios.

Canadian federal, and many provincial, governments are doing a horrible job; especially Ontario. They've had almost 2 months of "dedicated" time to come-up with plans. Any half-wit could've assembled a strategy (or strategies) that involves social distancing, for every major business to open. They should have been working with every major business to approve strategies and/or proposals. They should be able to release exactly what businesses can open first, and how. That, or get out of the way. Bad government is not what any country needs in times like this.

[Marcos]

In the Gatineau region you can circulate at will within the Gatineau region and the MRC des Collines region. Pretty big area for pleasure drives.

Golf courses in Quebec are planning to open in May. Ours on May 15.

I stand corrected . Yes, it is possible to go to Wakefiled or Masham etc.. no problem. Just phoned MRC des Collines.

[justdoit]

In the Gatineau region you can circulate at will within the Gatineau region and the MRC des Collines region. Pretty big area for pleasure drives.

Golf courses in Quebec are planning to open in May. Ours on May 15.

Which one is yours?

[White Light]

Which one is yours?

Sorry, can’t say. Don’t want to preempt the management.

[Jasonreg]

Ontario just announced 525 new COVID 19 cases today. This is not a trend that suggests any relaxation or opening any time soon IMO. I maintain that we will start to golf (outdoors) in a month starting with a "J". I am just not sure which one ……

[Lucky]

If we take out the old age / LTC homes we have very little new cases. The province has done a horrible job managing the virus around the elderly - which represents over 95% of the deaths. It's pretty sad.

But, that has little argument when it comes to golf courses opening with social distancing and planning. It's time to change. We don't need to sit around when we can do things with physical distancing. No offence, but it's dumb to say - there are cases, don't go outside. Smart countries are adjusting, we're behind the trend (again)...following, not leading. Poverty, job loss, mental health issues, violence, heavy debt, increased taxes, loss of govt. services, etc. will become/affect the vast majority of our lives if things don't change ASAP! We could be the country with all the problems when it's all said and done.

On a positive note, I heard that PEI is apparently opening golf courses...announcement to be made later today.

[Jasonreg]

79% is the actual Official number but your point is valid. That said, all I am suggesting is the trend is what will (likely) determine the opening dates, and the trend is not yet downwards, let alone stable.

[cpal]

Confirmed cases is a pointless metric given that a large number of people are asymptomatic. The effort to determine the true rate of infection is sadly lacking. If they aren't going to do large-scale random testing to get a proper infection rate then they should be tracking deaths, not cases. Also doesn't help that in some places, deaths are being over-reported too though (see NY state).

In other countries where the effort has been made, the spread is massive compared to confirmed cases (which is why death rates are way lower than originally thought), and that's a good thing.

The strategy should be to control infection spread within vulnerable populations and get moving to reopen ASAP. People are responsible enough to practice social distancing as we reopen, but this asinine obsession with enforcing confinement until randomly selected "confirmed case" metric is met is absurd.

[cpal]

New numbers from the federal government estimate 7% of Canadians have had COVID19.

That lowers the death rate by orders of magnitude. Government needs to make decisions with the reality of current data but some seem to be stuck in the March mindset.

Either way, Quebec just announced that retail stores outside Montreal can reopen May 4. Have to assume golf courses will be included in that. Will have to see if Gatineau participates (rather than waiting for Ottawa) and what the situation is RE: border crossings. Best case scenario, we can golf on the QC side in a week.

[pwoods72]

New numbers from the federal government estimate 7% of Canadians have had COVID19.


Either way, Quebec just announced that retail stores outside Montreal can reopen May 4. Have to assume golf courses will be included in that. Will have to see if Gatineau participates (rather than waiting for Ottawa) and what the situation is RE: border crossings. Best case scenario, we can golf on the QC side in a week.

What a stark contrast in approaches between Quebec and Ontario! Legault is quite transparent in recognizing LTC and non-LTC infections/deaths when presenting "the curve" and I appreciate that he stated that their goal of ensuring the hospitals are not overwhelmed and capacity is achieved was the goal and he feels they have met that.

They didn't specifically mention golf courses when allowing Retail stores to open that are not in a mall but you have to figure Pro Shops are Retail so......

[Lucky]

It's more than 79% if you take the workers in the LTC / old age homes into the numbers as well; example, breakout at the old age home near Carlingwood, now 11 dead, 119 residents infected, 48 staff infected. It's easy to have 100, 200, 300 people infected in these large homes. 95% of covid-19 deaths in Canada are people over 65. We didn't protect the elderly properly.

The trend is very much downward, across all regions in the country, including Ontario and Quebec. After having 3 of 5 days in Ontario (last week) with over 600 new cases, it's starting to plateau and move down; 3 of last 4 days in the 400 new cases range.

The Ontario government should have a plan for all businesses, and working (aggressively) to ensure no business is left behind.

The federal money printers have been going non-stop...can you imagine receiving thousands of dollars in the spring time, for the summer, when you were young? It's crazy. There is no free money. We will be paying for this for many years, via tax increases and cuts to services. The sooner we can stop the money printers the better we will be in the years to come.

We should be golfing as soon as possible, for our health, and for the health of the golf industry and course owners and workers. It's quite clear that it can be done with the right safety measures - and it is happening already, all over the world - let's make it happen here now