COVID UPDATES

On Friday the state changed its reopening blueprint effective April 15 to permit indoor live events. Sporting events, concerts, and theatrical performances off limits for the last year will again be parts of our lives. The degree to which they’ll be part will be dependent upon which Tier any specific county is at any specific time. Also beginning April 15, outdoor gatherings of up to 25 persons are allowed in Red Tier counties with maximum size increasing to 50 persons in the Orange Tier and 100 persons in the Yellow Tier. With proof of vaccination and other protections such as pre-purchased tickets, defined guest lists, and assigned seating, somewhat more expansive outdoor and indoor thresholds are sanctioned.

Speaking of “Tiers,” the great behemoth known as Los Angeles County entered the Orange Tier today. For golf that means only one specific thing in addition to the generic relaxations associated with all life in the Orange Tier. Junior and High School golf programs can now conduct competitions for multiple teams and/or multiple individuals with the permission of Los Angeles County Public Health. As for those “generic relaxations” that affect components of some but not necessarily all golf operations, the following rules now apply:

• Bars that do not provide meals will be allowed to open outdoors with distancing, masking, and infection control safety measures. Indoor operations are not permitted. Visits are limited to 90 minutes. Masks are required except when people are eating or drinking. There can be no counter seating and people can eat or drink only when they are seated. Tables must be 8 feet apart, with a maximum of 6 people from up to 3 different households. There can be no live entertainment, television is permitted outdoors only, and hours of operations are from 11:30 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.
• Restaurants can increase capacity for indoor dining to 50% capacity or 200 people, whichever is less with continued safety modifications.
• Cardrooms can operate indoors at 25% capacity. There must be 8-feet of distancing between tables and masks are always required. Food and beverages remain banned from card tables.
• Fitness Centers can operate indoors at 25% capacity and indoor pools can now re-open. Masks are always required unless swimming.
• Hair Salons, Barbershops and Personal Care Services can increase capacity to 75% with masks required, except for services where customers need to remove their masks. For services where customers must remove their face coverings, staff must wear a fitted N95 and goggles or a mask with a face shield.

We wish we could report that Los Angeles County had followed the lead of Southern California’s other nine (9) counties in permitting the use of certain shared implements integral to the game, e.g., bunker rakes, flagsticks, and traditional golf holes. But since we were not able to persuade Los Angeles County to follow the other counties’ lead in discarding Golf specific Appendices in favor of hewing to state protocols, we need to convince Los Angeles County to formally amend its “Golf Appendix” before that can happen.

We’ll give that another shot, as we hope Los Angeles County Parks & Recreation will as well. The maintenance of that golf separate order keeps Los Angeles County’s golf protocols in a constant state of arrearage, always behind the rest in terms of changing as Tiers and circumstances change. LA County Public Health has to be tired of hearing repeated requests to amend the “Golf Appendix.” Then again, maybe not. Ignoring golf’s pleas doesn’t seem to bother them.

Just to be clear though, it is our understanding that rakes, flagsticks, and holes are now permitted in the region’s other nine (9) counties. We use the term, “understanding,” because there is no black letter law on a subject as specific as this in the state protocols. We have to reason from the generic to the specific to arrive at the conclusion, but it is a conclusion that certain counties have confirmed in writing for us, including the 2^nd most populous in the state San Diego.