Coronavirus Ireland: Government to order closure of all golf clubs during level 5 lockdown



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Golfers will have to throw their clubs during the new block.

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.

The nation’s swingers got a controversial exception to play during the country’s first lockdown when most other sports were banned.

But Dublin Live can confirm that the Sports Department has decided that the game will be out of bounds for the next six weeks.

A source close to the Minister of Sport, Catherine Martin, who has responsibility in this area, told us: “Unfortunately, no golf.”

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 have become fond of the game since the pandemic hit.

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 issued any advice to the clubs in the Republic of Ireland yet and the managers of the golf clubs Dublin Live spoke to said they were awaiting guidance.



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