For many golfers this must feel like Christmas Eve.
All being well, we should get confirmation that golf courses will be back open tomorrow and I’m relishing the prospect of getting back out.
I have heard a few reports of golf club websites being unable to cope with the demand for tee times, which is probably no real surprise after two months of lockdown.
Hopefully everyone adheres to the new guidelines as the message is pretty clear that the courses could be shut again if they don’t.
It is right that golf courses are reopening. The indication is that there have been very few problems in England, apart from a big demand for tee times.
We’re fortunate it is one of the easiest sports to play while social distancing, and some clubs may see a surge in membership.
Plenty of people who regularly play football or rugby will realise they are unlikely to get a game on Saturday anytime soon and may decide to join their local course.
I had a good laugh filming a “back to golf” video to encourage people to stay safe while golfing. It was put together by my management company Bounce and included some of the Scottish players on tour including Robert MacIntyre and Richie Ramsay.
Hopefully it gets the message across.
It looks like we are going to receive some good news from the European Tour with the possible resumption of events from next month.
It was reported a run of five tournaments in Britain will start on June 23 with the Betfred British Masters at Close House.
The revised schedule is expected to be released soon but there are clearly discussions to be had between the European Tour and the government as well as sponsors.
It will be great to get an official restart date and a target to aim for.
We have missed a lot of events this year and it is going to be difficult to make up for that lost time during the second half of the year.
There are some logistical challenges, particularly if quarantine rules for travelling into countries and back to the United Kingdom are in place.
Another issue is hotels and how they will operate safely once lockdown is lifted.
Clearly the main issue is going to be coronavirus testing and restricting the number of people who attend events initially to the bare minimum.
But the Tour have been working hard to get it right and I’m confident they will be doing their utmost to ensure everything is as safe as possible.
