El Paso city & county to allow golf courses to reopen – but with restrictions

EL PASO, Texas -- The City and County of El Paso late Monday night announced it has opted to allow golf courses to open back up to the public, but with restrictions.

In a late night social media posting, officials said the courses, employees and golfers must adhere to the following measures below to reduce the risk of coronavirus exposure and spread.

Buildings, parking lots and general grounds

• Gold pro-shops must remain closed. Payment for play must be made electronically or over the phone. If the course is private, play is limited to members only, no guests.
• Tee times will be in 15-minute intervals.
• Groups of more than four (4) golfers are not allowed. Only golfers are allowed on the course.
• Players are responsible for handling their golf bags and clubs. Course personnel will not handle bags or clubs atany time.
• Players are not allowed to arrive at the course more than ten (10) minutes prior to their tee time and must maintainsocial distancing while waiting for their tee time. Players must leave the course immediately when their round isfinished.
• Walking is preferred and pull carts are allowed. The use of golf carts is permitted provided use is restricted to asingle rider and anyone living in the same household. Carts used must be sanitized by wiping all high touch areas (including steering wheels, cup holders, seats and roof supports and areas of the roof where players would grab entering or leaving the cart) before and after each round of use. All cart attendants should wear rubber gloves.
• No ice/water machines are to be in use. NO drinking fountains to be in operation.
• Staffing beyond those needed for golf course maintenance and security should be minimalo limited number of cart attendants, starter to monitor tee times who must maintain social distancing.
• Bathrooms must be wiped down and cleaned at least every three hours.
• Snack bars or grills open for take-out and carry away only. No congregating in areas surrounding snack bars orgrills. No beverage carts are allowed.
• No golf instructions or academies allowed.

Rules for Course Set-Up

• Carts must be staged at least six feet apart. Carts must not be parked closer than six feet from each other on the course.
• Driving ranges must be closed. Social distancing must be maintained on practice putting greens. Putting greens and practice areas are only available for players ten minutes prior to their tee time.
• No rakes in bunkers and no ball washers.
• All cups on greens must either be raised to prevent the ball from entering the hole or be filled with a liner, whichkeeps the ball from dropping all the way into the hole so that players may remove their ball without touching the flagstick.

Face Coverings

• Golfers maintaining the required six feet of social distancing are not required to wear face coverings during play.
• Golfers are required to wear face coverings if they are not able to maintain six feet of social distancing.

Officials said anyone seeing a golf course operating in violation of the rules should call the police department non-emergency line at (915) 832-4400, call 3-1-1 or visit epstrong.org to report it to authorities.

In an effort to slowly re-open businesses in El Paso, golf courses will re-open with restrictions. Golf courses, their employees and golfers must adhere to certain measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure.

Read more: https://t.co/PmkYV969FF

— City of El Paso (@ElPasoTXGov) April 28, 2020