Thankful for Golf in the Age of COVID-19
We have all been affected by this disease. I have personally had friends and family members who have had the virus. Some barely had symptoms at all while others were seriously ill and had to be hospitalized.
Hopefully, most of you who are reading this have only dealt with the inconvenience of having some of your daily habits changed. No doubt some of you have suffered significant loss such as a death of a loved one, business closure or job loss. My thoughts and prayers go out to you.
So far, the golf industry has survived pretty well with some courses actually thriving this year. At Bent Brook it is has been a mixed bag. On one hand we are seeing a high demand for golf. On the other hand, we have seen a decrease in rounds mainly due to the social distancing requirements that mandate each golfer has a separate golf car. This limits the number of players we can have on the course at a given time and makes it impossible for us to keep up with demand. For those of you who have been frustrated when you cannot get a starting time, we apologize for the inconvenience and hope you understand. Our “inventory” of starting times has been limited by factors beyond our control. No one is more frustrated by that than we are.
Despite all the negative impacts of Covid-19 there are some positives that I am particularly thankful for. I will list just a few:
- I am thankful to work for a caring and generous owner. Throughout this pandemic he has put the safety and well-being of Bent Brook employees and patrons ahead of profit. We have consistently followed all public health orders and industry best practices, even when the result has been a loss of revenue or increased operating expenses.
- I am thankful for my outstanding staff. They have gone above and beyond the normal call of duty, in particular with all the enhanced cleaning and sanitation practices we have put in place. They also covered for me when I was forced to quarantine for two weeks when a family member tested positive for the virus.
- I am thankful for all the patrons of Bent Brook Golf Course and the Hank Johnson School of Golf. We have endured some setbacks and inconveniences this year. Hopefully, the worst is behind us, we can continue to make progress for the remainder of 2020 and can look forward to a banner year in 2021.