By Dan Murphy
An interesting debate continues in Westchester, as all of us attempt to balance the stay at home/stay healthy/don’t spread the virus orders with the need to get out every once in a while and smell the roses, or at least get a breath of fresh air.
As I drive up and down the Sprain Parkway every week, I still see the golfers playing on Sprain Lake Golf Course. Most of them are what I call “lifetime golfers;” mostly older retirees who play the same county course at the same time every week during every golf season.
This simple pleasure keeps them healthy… in normal times. But we are not in normal times, and with the fear of the spread of COVID-19, many communities across our state and country have closed their golf courses in an effort to keep more people home, in the hopes of not spreading the virus.
But as a golfer, I have had the desire to get out and hit a few golf balls, or play a few holes somewhere. This is usually the time, at the start of spring, when golfers dig in their garage, take out their clubs, and hit a bucket of balls at the local driving range. But this is an unusual time in our lives.
I must also present some type of example to my 18-year-old daughter, who had her freshman year at SUNY Oneonta re-assigned to online, home learning. Our recent trip up to Oneonta to remove her belongings from her dorm was a sad journey.
And as someone who has type 2 diabetes I am susceptible to the Coronavirus, so I must be careful. So for those reasons – but most of all because I have not taken the preparatory swings to be ready to go out on Mohansic Golf Course in Yorktown in northern Westchester – my springtime golf has consisted of taking a few swings in the backyard and hitting some old balls into the woods.
The debate over whether the county golf courses should close rages on in Westchester, with the final decision in the hands of County Executive George Latimer who, in the middle of this crisis has come out looking like a Churchill like figure, helping us all through a difficult time.
Latimer has said, for the time being, the courses will remain open. Last week, he toured the county parks and golf course to see if visitors were exercising social distancing.
“Saxon Woods Golf, 89 golfers out there – but they aren’t clustered,” he wrote on social media. “Foursomes spread out over 18 holes and wide acreage, signage everywhere, (a) special window with spacing for those signing up. The pro shop is closed. All the protections are in place.
“Some people want to shut all the parks just because they think it should be shut down. They have their opinion. A larger group of folks feel exactly the opposite. I’ve crafted a simple, fair-minded strategy: They stay open as long as people can follow the distancing rules. If it gets unruly, I’ll close down an individual site. Only if they’re all unmanageable will I shut down the whole system. And I’m out there personally to see it for myself, not just taking the word of what others assert.
“And we have protected our workers,” continued Latimer. “Glass shields at the golf courses to protect the workers… just like the bus drivers, we’re protecting by making passengers enter the back doors. Social distancing walks in nature centers and bicycling on trailways (is) permitted; golf – a sport that easily allows for social distancing – is also permitted. No active team sports (are) allowed during this period.”
On the other side of the issue, Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner, and others, argue that permitting golfing is endangering others.
“Most golfers will not infect or get infected when playing at the course. But, some may,” wrote Feiner in an email blast. “As a medical professional pointed out, one coronavirus patient could infect 59,000 others. It’s better to stay home. Yesterday residents pointed out that some of the private golf courses have shut down. Why shouldn’t the county do the same with public golf courses?
“We are sending wrong messages by allowing public golf courses to remain open. We need to work harder to make sure more people stay home and stop infecting others. There are many people who are not taking this crisis seriously – and I don’t want to see names of friends or any Greenburgh resident in the obituary pages because they were careless.”
Feiner is correct in one fact: Most, if not all private country clubs in Westchester, are closed – perhaps because of the state requirements to close all non-essential businesses and keep all non-essential employees home, but also perhaps for liability reasons.
A recent New York Times story highlights the fact that in the days before the virus hit our area hard, golfers were out in droves trying to get a last few hours on the course, with the understanding that closures will come.
One golfer is quoted in the story, written by Bill Pennington, saying that golfing is “probably safer than going to the grocery store.” But, he added: “I guess I’ll do more landscaping and read a lot of books. It’s going to be pretty boring.”
Dr. Kryssie Woods from Mt. Sinai Hospital is quoted in the story saying that golfers should stay home. “The more we embrace the advice to quarantine ourselves now, the sooner everyone will be able to resume normal life – including getting back on the golf course,” she said.
One final thought on Facebook, from David Gladman: “Shutting down our parks limits us to what our last memory of what our lives were like before this pandemic. Practice respect and distance and at least we can enjoy the sun and some reasonably fresh air. I refuse to lock myself in this house because of some stupid people.”
We all need to find that fine line between protecting ourselves, and everyone, from COVID-19, and trying to continue – in some way – to live our lives. And that decision is up to each of us, resulting in the fact that there is no correct answer, but both Latimer and Feiner can and should make their case.
All we can do is listen to both arguments and make our own decisions.
