CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A company that manages five golf courses in Charlotte is taking steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at their facilities.
- Courses are enforcing social distancing
- They're not accepting cash, but rather encouraging online booking and kiosk use
- Increased cleaning measures for golf carts and discontinued club rentals
Ratcliffe Golf Services is not accepting cash at the moment. Instead, the company is encouraging customers to book their rounds in advance and use self check-in kiosks. Hand sanitizer and wipes are provided for customers to disinfect the kiosks used.
“We are enforcing the social distancing and we are doing it very aggressively. We are doing it for the safety of not only of our golfers, but also of our staff,” Ratcliffe Golf Services President Del Ratcliffe said.
In addition, he said the five golf courses are not enforcing a rule that pairs individual players with each other.
“In this environment, we can’t pair you up with somebody else. We may not be able to put you out on the golf course as quickly as you would like. We’d like to have your understanding and patience on those type of things."
Other preventive measures at the golf courses include washing golf carts with a bleach solution after each use and temporarily discontinuing the rental of golf clubs.
Greg Hastie, who was playing at Charles T. Myers on Saturday, said he is glad Ratcliffe Golf Services is taking these preventive steps.
“I think it’s good because there’s not a lot that we can do, so finding a way that people can keep the safe distance, I think it’s good so we can get out and still have activities and stay safe at the same time,” Hastie said.
Ratcliffe said, in general, golfing is safe because up to four people play together and they maintain a good distance between each other.
“The whole social distancing idea is very easy to accomplish on the golf course,” Ratcliffe said.
According to Ratcliffe, his company will take additional steps to ensure everyone’s safety come Monday. The cups on each green will be raised to allow golfers to retrieve their balls without touching any surfaces. They also plan to remove equipment frequently touched on the golf course.
For more information, go to click here.