Golf: New Normal? Take Two [PHOTOS]

Last week we were supposed to start our couples league at Conklin Players Club. With the cold weather and rain in the forecast, the league voted to delay the start by one week.

So last night was our first official round of golf. When we showed up we noticed some of the golf carts had a plexiglass divider between the driver and the passenger. But being that we live in the same house, we were allowed to take a cart without the plexiglass in between us.

We had to stay six feet away from the other couple we are playing and we are told to leave the flagstick in at all times. They had sawed off pieces of pool noodles in the hole to prevent your ball from hitting the bottom of the cup. (See picture below)

We also noticed, and I wish I took a picture of it when I saw it, a sign on the GPS system in the cart that said do not touch flag stick and take more Gimmes. For those of you that don't golf, that means if you are close enough to the hole where the other team thinks you can't miss the putt, usually Within a foot and a half, you just take one more stroke and say it's in the hole.

Another thing we noticed, there were no rakes for the sand traps. We didn't have to hit out of any bunkers, but Linda and Dave, the couple we were playing with, had to hit out of one. So they did the best rake job they could with their golf cleats.

After the round was over, handshakes and hugs were replaced by elbow bumps. Usually once the round is over, the whole league usually goes upstairs for dinner, drinks, and a few laughs. But being that restaurants aren't allowed to open their dining room yet, we couldn't do that.

.Other than that, there really isn't much difference in golf since the Coronavirus. We did wear our masks around our necks, and we only lifted them up when we got within six feet of each other, but only happened a couple of times.

When we were in Myrtle Beach this spring, and the pandemic just started forcing the closure of certain businesses,  some golf courses left the cup raised slightly above the surface of the green. So if you hit the cup, it was considered in the hole.

I kind of wish they did that at Conklin. It would have saved a couple strokes off our score, and I think it would have taken even more off Linda and Dave's Score. Linda lipped at least three of her puts. We only beat them by two strokes. So the the cups were raised, might have ended up winning the match, or it could have ended in a tie.