Governor Greg Abbott says golf courses are non-essential. So why are they still open?
Most Tarrant County golf courses remain open, amid confusion as to whether Gov. Greg Abbott’s clarification this week that they are non-essential businesses actually applies to them.
Rockwood Golf Course, a Fort Worth-owned course, was open for play Thursday, according to a golf shop employee. So was Riverside Golf Course in Grand Prairie. So was the Golf Club of Fossil Creek in north Fort Worth.
The plan for those courses is to remain open until told otherwise.
Some local courses, though, had been told otherwise.
Mansfield National Golf Club, for instance, shut down operations Wednesday, sending out an email to its patrons that the course would be closed. A pro shop employee said the decision to close was a city-mandated order.
However, Mansfield has since changed course on its decision, clarifying its policy on Thursday evening. The city shut down courses after Abbott deemed them “non-essential.” Upon further review, though, it is now allowing courses to operate under certain guidelines such as walking only unless a patron is using their own personal cart (not rented from the golf course) and booking tee times is done online.
In a statement, the city said: “The City Attorney has determined golf course operators may elect to continue minimum basic operations as a non-essential business.” Minimum basic operations includes “maintaining the premises,” which would allow the grounds crew to ensure courses remain playable for golfers.
The confusion stems from whether Abbott’s clarification this week that golf courses are non-essential businesses means they have to close. As of now, though, the belief within the golf community is that Abbott has not shut them down.
Abbott acknowledged that golf courses may continue to operate during a news conference on Friday.
“People are free to walk along or even with the golf club and a golf ball — go along the golf course,” Abbott said. “Public golf course, anybody can. A private golf course, the clubhouse is supposed to be closed, but members who are authorized to be on that premises can walk along the golf course even with a golf club and a golf ball as long as they are all maintaining safe distancing practices and following the CDC’s standards to make sure they’re not transmitting the coronavirus.”
In an email sent to local courses earlier this week, North Texas PGA CEO Mark Harrison wrote, “[Abbott] did not clarify anything related to the status of golf in the State of Texas. Therefore, until, and only if we hear directly from the Governor’s office, the status of golf in Texas will continue to be determined county to county and judge to judge.”
However, John Wittman, a spokesman for Abbott, confirmed Thursday that the governor told local officials on a call this week that golf courses are non-essential businesses.
As a result, officials in cities like Galveston and Waco said golf courses will be closed. But as of Thursday, golf courses in Tarrant County still had tee times available for booking this weekend, and Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said that as long as proper social distancing guidelines are followed they can remain open based on the fact that golf is an essential outdoor activity, like running or bicycling.
“As long as they’re not allowing people to come in and walk through their pro shop, and buy things and do things like that, or buy refreshments, that golf course can operate,” Whitley said, stressing that there should be only one person per golf cart.
And Whitley said the county came to that decision based on the advice of attorneys from the Attorney General’s Office who helped review the county’s local stay-at-home order after Abbott’s statewide order was issued.
“I don’t believe that we are in conflict,” Whitley said. “There is absolutely no way that any one of us can write a document and include absolutely everything about every question. We don’t have enough paper in this world to do that. So what we attempt to do is to do generalities, and then let folks use common sense.”
Most courses have implemented strict guidelines for golfers. They have either removed flagsticks on the greens entirely, or secured them to a point where players don’t have to reach deep into a cup to retrieve their ball.
Additionally, courses have removed bunker rakes, water coolers, ball washers and closed on-course bathrooms.
Fort Worth-owned courses have gone to walking only, while others such as Riverside and Fossil Creek are prohibiting the sharing of golf carts.
Still, even those measures may not thoroughly abide by the state’s regulations. As a non-essential business, courses shouldn’t have any in-person operations, according to Seth Christensen, a spokesman for the Texas Division of Emergency Management.
Abbott’s executive order that requires Texans stay home through April unless participating in activities or services deemed “essential” by the state, does encourage businesses to operate remotely. So a golf course facilitating tee times online, would be acceptable, Christensen said.
“The golf course could have employees taking tee times from home, scheduling tee times and allowing citizens to go out and play golf at those golf courses as long as they’re properly socially distanced,” Christensen said, stressing that people should not trespass on private golf courses.
Fort Worth and Tarrant County’s orders allow for non-essential businesses to maintain basic operations, including processing payroll, maintaining inventory, equipment and premises, as long as businesses minimize in-person contact and the number of employees, practice social distancing and utilize remote work to the greatest extent possible.
However, Christensen said employees should not visit golf courses to maintain the grounds.
“That, in my opinion, would be operational. They’re not allowed to be in operation,” he said. “The point of this is to ensure the safety of the employees just as we do the general public who would be visiting the golf courses.”
When Abbott announced his order March 31, he made it clear that local stay-at-home provisions cannot supplant what the statewide executive mandate is designed to protect.
That initially cast confusion on some local stay-at-home orders that had been stricter in scope, such as Fort Worth and Tarrant County’s requirements that houses of worship be closed to the public.
Tarrant County and Fort Worth’s current stay-at-home orders now reflect that they are not intended to impose restrictions inconsistent with the governor’s March 31 order, or any other order issued by the governor that is currently in effect related to the coronavirus.
But, “to the extent that there are things that are not mentioned in the executive order, it still gives local jurisdictions the latitude to establish their own rules,” Abbott said.
Abbott’s order explicitly states that Texans can still visit parks, hunt or fish and engage in physical activity, like jogging or bicycling, “so long as the necessary precautions are maintained to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 and to minimize in-person contact with people who are not in the same household.”
Tarrant County and Fort Worth’s stay-at-home orders deem engaging in outdoor activities — like “walking, biking, hiking, golfing, or running” — as essential, as long as social distancing guidelines are followed.
Christensen said golf courses are non-essential under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s guidance on essential workers, and Whitley said that businesses that believe they should be deemed essential should contact the Texas Division of Emergency Management.
“What we’re trying to do is to stop the curb of the disease,” Whitley said, stressing that he understands the hardships businesses are enduring. “If we can come up with an innovative way to allow the business to continue to function and survive, then we’re going to try to do that.”
Whitley pointed to businesses taking precautions like checking the temperatures of their employees, and acknowledged businesses have administrative tasks, like maintaining payroll, inventory or grounds that are still permitted.
A spokeswoman for Mayor Betsy Price did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday.
As of now, golf courses that are open intend to stay open until a government official specifically tells them otherwise. Everything is subject to interpretation these days.
But, as Harrison said in his letter to courses, “As a sport, golf has the unique opportunity to be one of the first activities to come back to life as a safe refuge on the other side of this pandemic.”
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 6:29 PM.
