Rick Laneski, rear, watches the ball hit by his partner, Eric Plisko, off the fairway on No. 10 at Fox Hill C.C. in the finals of the John A. Allan Tournament in 2018. This year’s edition of the popular tournament has been rescheduled for Aug. 14 through 16 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Tony Callaio file photo | For Times Leader
Golf at Fox Hill Country Club has become more popular, faster, more family-friendly and less competitive in the four weeks since Gov. Tom Wolf lifted restrictions on the sport.
The competitive aspect of the country club schedule is starting up slowly and Fox Hill’s biggest event of the year, the John A. Allan Memorial, a three-day member-guest, has been pushed back nearly two months to Aug. 14-16.
The club’s May golf events were canceled and June events were postponed. Competition is resuming with a match play tournament that is being altered and stretched out of over four weekends.
General manager/chief operating officer Shane Bradley has seen some differences to life at Fox Hill under social distancing rules during the coronavirus pandemic, but is pleased with how busy the golf course has remained.
“Our golf course has been at capacity most days,” said Bradley, who reported that 1,011 more rounds were played May 1-27 than for the same time period a year ago. “ … This weekend, we’re probably going to break 3,000 rounds total for the month of May, which has been outstanding.”
Bradley said players are cooperating with the different rules that are in place.
“Our members have been great about following the rules as far as social distancing,” Bradley said. “A couple things that we have taken away that have been big positives are in pace of play has been phenomenal.
“Most of our members have been completing rounds in about 3 hours and 30 minutes. A long round right now with 15-minute tee times and single rider carts has been about 3 hours and 40 minutes.”
The greater spread between starting times separates groups more as they get started and reduces waits on shots during the early holes. One player to a cart means each player is going directly to his or her own ball and proceeding from there. Keeping flag sticks in, something that began occurring somewhat more often last season with changes in golf rules, has cut down time on the greens.
Other safety measures, which limit golfers touching the same surfaces, have helped speed up play. Players no longer have bottles of sand on their carts to use when repairing divots and they no longer use rakes to repair bunkers after hitting their sand shots.
Instead, maintenance workers are busier, running around the course raking traps.
Bradley, who as been at the course for 13 years, said he has noticed a distinct increase in the number of groups that are made up of one family, with kids playing along with their parents or just being out on the course gradually getting introduced to the game.
“A lot of the feedback has been great about things like pace of play and the weather has been great, so the course is in excellent condition,” Bradley said. “ … They’ve really been self-policing. I haven’t had to be out there enforcing social distancing or asking people to leave pins in.
“They’ve really been doing a great job and just seem to appreciate the opportunity to leave the house and escape reality for three or four hours.”
Tournament weekends may look a little bit different in the events that surround the competition. The Allan Memorial for example, traditionally includes large dinners on Friday and Sunday that may need to be approached differently depending on rules in place at the time it is held this summer.
The match play tournament is a sign that competition is back. Other tournament decisions, Bradley said, are being made on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis, but he anticipates the course becoming busier in that aspect as well.
“A lot of our competitive golfers really wanted to get the competition part back in,” Bradley said. “ … (After June), the remainder of our golfing calendar for competitive events, we’ll just make adjustments to abide by the rules that are in place at the time.
“We don’t foresee any of the other events being canceled, but we do see changes in what would happen at the conclusion of an event. Instead of coming into the ballroom for a big meal or open bar, we’re planning ways to execute food services outside.
“I do see the biggest impact on our competitive events being what we do with our food and beverage service.”
