It is with great pleasure that we, management and the committee, have been able to welcome you back to Elfordleigh and enable you to get out on the course to get back into the swing of things. Now that the course has been opened for a couple of days under restricted guidelines, we think it’s necessary to reflect on what we have seen so far. Firstly, it was striking to see how much the game of golf was being enjoyed, whether it was good, poor or something in between. It seemed that the term “being rusty” was for now the valid trending excuse. We are delighted to have received so much great feedback regarding the condition of the course. Therefore, credit in particular goes to Will, who has kept the course in fantastic shape by himself during your enforced absence.The greenkeeping team now will continue to make it even better, but the course will need more time to recover. On that note it has been noticed that quite a significant number of members and their guests have not been repairing their pitch marks. So please help us and eventually yourself and repair your pitch marks. We have in accordance with the Government policy and England Golf put together guidelines for returning to golf. We have done so to ensure your and our safety, whilst enabling us to provide the privilege of playing golf for exercise. It was refreshing to see that so many of you complied; arrived, played and left Elfordleigh as required. We wish to adhere to the England Golf recommendations of NO competitions outside of your allotted tee time, i.e. NO Roll Ups. Our concern is that to do otherwise would encourage people to hang around and wait for each other to find out how everyone else has done. Unfortunately, there were some occasions that the guidelines were not followed, even though 2 meters distance was maintained. There we would like to re-iterate the policies currently in place regarding social distancing. At all times keep a minimum distance of 2 meters AND do not meet with more than 1 person outside of your household. By not doing so you not only risk getting a fine or ban, but even more importantly it unnecessarily puts us at risk of needing to close the course again. Therefore, please adhere to the guidelines and do not organise and participate in competitions. Doing so will be considered a significant breach until further notice. In the guidance that was widely circulated you were all advised that failure to adhere to the published guidance would result in a two week ban from playing golf at Elfordleigh. The Committee and Management have discussed the breaches of the guidelines and have agreed, because of certain mitigating factors, no bans will be issued on this occasion. However, further significant breaches will not be tolerated and bans unfortunately will be imposed. Our intention is to return to Competitive golf as soon as possible and one precondition for that is that both the Committee and Management are confident that all members understand and comply with the requirements for Social Distancing. Our target is to start at the beginning of June with a number of Pro Shop Stableford competitions. We recognise the eagerness to get back to normal and hopefully all this will pass quickly, but be patient as that is not now. Until that time comes: · Arrive shortly before your tee time · Report to the Pro Shop · Play (hopefully well) and enjoy · Repair your pitch marks · Leave immediately (do not meet anyone else besides your playing partner even when continuously keeping a distance of 2 meters) Hasko Hujdurovic Don Metters Director Elfordleigh Chairman Elfordleigh Golf Club
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