Houghton Golf Club cannot wait to tee-off

Houghton Golf Club has been kept in immaculate condition during the lockdown and staff cannot wait to serve members and visitors when the club reopens.

So said club professional, Richard Kaplan, who estimated the course was at 80 to 90 per cent of its normal condition. “Our course superintendent and his assistant were the only two of our course staff on duty during the lockdown, as maintenance of critical assets was allowed,” he explained.

“They did use about three volunteers from the members, including the CEO, Robby Richardson, and our golf director, Letitia Roestoff, as well, for mowing fairways, while they looked after the greens, being the most important part of the course, and the tees and rough too.”

He said more staff will likely return to work at lockdown Level 3.

The club has communicated with its members through emails, WhatsApp broadcasts, and a weekly newsletter put together by Kaplan. “A big part of the communication was fundraising for our caddies, who have been fairly well looked after at this time.”

He added that for golfers wishing to practise their swings at home, develop their game theory or improve their muscle strength, there are many platforms online that can help with this. “As golf globally starts resuming, a lot of focus is on warming up after the long break. Fit For Golf and MyTPI are very good with what they offer, as well as the great stuff they re-tweet. Anything with rotation that basically imitates the golf swing can only help ease the stiff swing muscles.”

Kaplan believes since many of us have been sitting around a lot during lockdown, posture could be a problem coming back.”So thoracic spine mobility exercises are almost the most critical. Lastly, in terms of safety, golf is played over grounds of around 55 hectares or 137 acres, so in terms of two or four players together over that massive area, golf is definitely the safest sport around in terms of not catching a virus.”