‘The phone has been ringing constantly’: How courses in Massachusetts are managing the return of golf.
"All of us are a little off guard."
Ted Murphy is trying to plug in a soda machine inside the pro shop at Murphy’s Garrison Golf Center in Haverhill.
Through the open window – and through a mask covering his face – he explains that he unplugged it in November, before he traveled south to spend the winter in Florida, and now that he’s back, he can’t quite get the plug back into the wall.
His daughter-in-law, Kristin Murphy, wearing a plaid mask, is taping signs to the windows of the building, directing customers around the back to check in through that same window, where they’ll be greeted by her 17-year-old daughter, Mackenzie.
It isn’t exactly how Ted Murphy, 80, envisioned his 51st season as the owner of the nine-hole, par-3 course starting, but after golf courses were deemed non-essential by Gov. Charlie Baker, he and his family are just glad that it’s starting at all after the ban was reversed on Thursday.
“The phone has been ringing constantly,” Kristin Murphy said. “Being 50 years in business, [Ted and wife, Mary] understand the ups and downs. But this is something that they’ve obviously never experienced.”
Kristin Murphy posts signs instructing golfers of safety guidelines at Murphy’s Garrison Golf Center in Haverhill.
A handful of individual players were scattered throughout the course Thursday afternoon, hours after Baker’s announcement that golf could resume in Massachusetts, effective immediately.
Kristin’s husband, Kevin, had been working outside at Garrison before the ban was lifted, and he drove across town to Bradford Country Club, the family’s other course, to field tee-time requests from members and the public. At Bradford, they had four tee-times booked for 10:30 Thursday morning, and by 2 p.m., were full until Saturday.
“We basically just opened our tee sheet, threw the pins in, and we were ready to go,” Kevin Murphy said. “We probably got 100 phone calls in the first hour.”
Since the sport was deemed non-essential, the Alliance of Massachusetts Golf Organizations (AMGO) had been working to reverse the decision. After a successful meeting with the state’s reopening board last Saturday, word spread that the call to open could be coming soon, but personnel around the state were surprised by Thursday’s decision to resume immediately.
“We knew that there was not going to be much of a runway for when a decision and an announcement would be made,” said Jesse Menachem, the executive director and CEO of Mass Golf. “There was some understanding that it could be today, but we weren’t really overly confident in that.”
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Some courses simply needed more time.
Golf course maintenance was allowed during the statewide ban, but some facilities need to welcome back laid-off employees to run check-in and assure necessary safety measures are being taken.
North Andover Country Club will open Friday, according to general manager Jeff Isbell. Isbell, who is the president of the New England Club Management Association, said an email was sent to members outlining the state-mandated safety guidelines, and they will be reinforced in a webinar Thursday night.
“We’re a little disappointed that it was announced [suddenly],” Isbell said. “We sort of listened and waited patiently for the governor to say when. It would have been nice for a couple days’ heads up, but we’re excited and appreciative.”
David Stott, the superintendent at Chequessett Country Club in Wellfleet, said his course is planning to open sometime next week.
“All of us are a little off guard,” said Stott, who is the president of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of Cape Cod. “We asked for three days notice and unfortunately, we didn’t get that. We’ve been inundated with requests and questions, and it would’ve been nice to get out in front of it.”
Menachem said the safety measures outlined by the state fell in line with what AMGO recommended when it met with the advisory board Saturday, though the state came down harder on regulating certain areas. Menachem said AMGO asked for 10 minutes between tee times and some use of carts, but Baker advised 15 minutes of separation and no carts.
The latter is something that golf course managers are hoping to reverse. In addition to being another stream of revenue for facilities that already have to catch up from losing the start of their season, carts accommodate elderly or disabled golfers who otherwise cannot play the course.
“Anything is better than nothing at this point,” said Kevin Murphy, who said he had to turn away a disabled patron at Bradford Country Club because he could not legally rent him a cart. “The last couple weeks have been tough, but I understand the decision, and we’ll work with these restrictions.”
Bob Kennedy, Dick Corsetti, Mark Taffe, and Tim Bresnahan, all of Haverhill, get ready to play a round of golf at Bradford Country Club Thursday.
Massachusetts was the last state in the country to announce an end date to its ban on golf, after Maryland and Vermont announced a May 7 opening date earlier this week. Courses in New Hampshire can open Monday.
“Yes, we were the last state for clarity on golf in the country,” Menachem said. “Maybe there was some pressure there, but we came out very early and clarified to our facilities and golfers that we should be listening.”
The situation in the commonwealth intensified Monday, when Cara Cullen, who owns two courses in the central part of the state, told Fox News she would defy Baker’s stay-at-home order to open. Meanwhile, a petition started by Franklin resident Joe Marin had collected more than 42,000 signatures urging the governor to allow play.
“We’ll have a lot of fun,” Ted Murphy said from behind the window at Garrison. “A lot of people just want to get out there and hit it around a little bit.”
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