ADDENDUM TO MONDAY’S UPDATE

ADDENDUM TO MONDAY’S UPDATE

In Monday’s “Update” we suggested that those counties in Southern California that had long ago jettisoned their golf specific orders in favor of aligning with the state’s orders re “outdoor recreation” would likely see additional relaxations as a result of Monday’s cancellation of the state’s Regional Stay at Home Order, but that Los Angeles County was not likely to be among them. We were wrong. In this case not a bad thing.

While LA County has not changed the December 2 reissue of its separate Golf Appendix, which you can access by clicking here, it did otherwise realign with the state in terms of reopening key sectors of the economy, including outdoor dining, some of which are directly referenced in the separate Golf Appendix and others that are overridden by separate Orders.

The following was permitted as of Monday, albeit always in accordance with all of the sector specific directives ensuring distancing, wearing of face coverings, and infection control:

• Private gatherings outdoors up to 3 households and up to a total of 15 people
• Museums, zoos, aquariums outdoor operations at 50% occupancy
• Cardrooms outdoor operations at 50% occupancy
• Miniature golf, go karts, batting cages outdoor operations at 50% occupancy
• Outdoor recreational activities are open
• Hotels & motels for tourism and individual travel allowed
• Fitness facilities open for outdoor operations
• Personal care services open indoors at 25% capacity
• Indoor mall, shopping center, lower-risk retail open at 25% indoor capacity; food courts and common areas closed

The following will be permitted Friday when LA County revises its extant “Purple Tier” Order, which was last revised November 25 just before the statewide Regional Stay at Home Order superseded it (December 2):

• Outdoor dining and the curfew (10:00 PM to 5:00 AM) on non-essential businesses.

The lifting of the ban on outdoor dining will have a substantial impact upon golf operations; that much is clear. Less clear but similarly impactful are the relaxations on ancillary functions available at some but not all golf properties – e.g., fitness, cardrooms, and personal services. Even less clear are matters such as LA County’s separate Appendix that outlines the protocols that apply to the reopening of “youth sports leagues” but contradicts generic language regarding “group” activities in the extant Golf Appendix. To wit:

• “Practice games among players of the same team (intra-squad games, scrimmages and/or matches) are allowed for non-contact sports only. Non-contact sports include those sports that allow all players in the game, scrimmage or match to maintain an 8-foot distance between one another during competition (for example, singles tennis matches, golf matches, some track and field events).” [Reopening Protocol for Youth Sports Leagues]

Please note that the above language is Los Angeles County specific. We cite it here to highlight that there will indeed be some changes in LA County golf based on actions taken earlier this week and envisaged to follow Friday, despite the fact that for the most part the protocols contained in that county’s golf specific Appendix maintain. For the vast majority of the region’s counties that do not still maintain golf separate appendices to their overall health orders, most of which align with the state’s generic protocols, (e.g., San Diego County), the rules governing school competitions come straight out of the state’s Order regarding “Outdoor and Indoor Youth and Recreational Adult Sports,” which authorizes the resumption of “inter-team competitions (i.e., between two teams)” as of Monday per protocols specified therein.

Whether LA County or other counties, all of this promises to be the same work in progress that the COVID-19 experience has been since the beginning of the pandemic response. We’ll continue to do our best to create a measure of golf specific order out of the chaos and contradiction suffusing it.

As we suggested Monday, all of this presages a slow roll back to some semblance of normality somewhat faster than we had been anticipating just a few weeks ago – but ONLY to the degree to which the trajectory of the pandemic curve continues to improve.

The golf community has demonstrated an uncommon patience combined with an impressive record of compliance with all extant rules/regulations/protocols from day one of the pandemic – a laudable performance that promises to serve the game well through the end of the pandemic if we’ll just stay the course.