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Golfers will be prohibited from hitting the fairways during the new lockout.
There will be a furor in the fairways, as the Government order is about to arrive that all golf courses must close below Level 5 with immediate effect.
Country putters got a controversial exception to play during the country’s first lockout when most other sports were banned.
But the Irish Mirror can confirm that the Sports Department has decided that the game will be off limits for the next six weeks.
A source close to Sports Minister Catherine Martin, who has responsibility in this area, told the Irish Mirror: “No golf, sadly.”
And a spokeswoman for the department formally added: “We can confirm that golf courses must close under Level 5 restrictions.”
The exception during the first shutdown was enthusiastically welcomed by golf clubs and members with packed fairways and an increase in membership across the country.
Many chose a club for the first time and a large number of young people joined the game.
Proponents of the game pointed to the safety of social distancing from playing a game in a space that is often more than 200 acres in size.
And they argued that the mental health benefits were huge for the 400,000 people who play golf regularly in Ireland.
Northern Ireland introduced its own Covid rules last Saturday, but golf made the cut there and the clubs are still open under strict restrictions.
The Golf Union of Ireland (GUI) has not yet issued any advice to clubs in the Republic of Ireland and the managers of the golf clubs Mirror spoke to said they were awaiting guidance.
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