If Tom Cook ever taught a class at Oregon State on how to manage a golf course when a virus sweeps the globe, Josh Lewis never took it.
The superintendent at Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club in Menlo Park, California, Lewis said managing his staff and the course in the shadows of Stanford University has been a new experience.
"I must have slept through that class on how to manage a golf course through a global pandemic," Lewis said. "I have no idea how to do this. There is no playbook. There is no right or wrong. I'm trying to be as educated as possible in my decision making."
As the golf industry navigates through various stages of reopening depending on location, stay-at-home orders because of the virus meant different things in different areas, and thus reopening has been just as different. What seems to be the same just about everywhere, however, is a golfer base enthusiastic about returning to play and equally understanding about any limitations they might encounter on the golf course.
Sharon Heights was among the first golf courses in San Mateo County to close when it shuttered its doors on March 13 until May 3 when public health officials said it was OK for golf courses to reopen.
I must have slept through that class on how to manage a golf course through a global pandemic. I have no idea how to do this. There is no playbook. There is no right or wrong. I'm trying to be as educated as possible in my decision making."
Like all of us who were inundated with conflicting and inconsistent information in the early days of the stay-at-home period, Lewis had no idea what the future would bring, or how long the course would be closed.
"From the minute it escalated and became a serious deal, the club moved swiftly and responsibly in shutting down," Lewis said.
"It was like a triage unit: What were our priorities? Our priorities were our people and we have to make sure we take care of them. We are surrounded here at the club by smart people who understand the economy and business better than most people on the planet, and soon it became evident that there was going to be significant health and economic impact."
Maintaining the golf course was left to Lewis, two assistants and an A.I.T. with staggered schedules to limit exposure to each other.
Plotting a path forward in a vacuum of reliable information came through, as often is the case with superintendents, conversations with other superintendents.
"We phased everything in with longer tee time spacing to manage traffic and there was a commitment to make sure we were in compliance with county mandates," Lewis said. "We had a text chain of 15 or 16 superintendents asking each other how we interpreted these mandates. We wanted to be able to stay ahead of things as they came down."
When the course reopened, players were happy to play and less concerned with perfect conditions.
Members were playing 160-170 rounds a day at Sharon this week, a number that is nearly double the average for this time of year, Lewis said.
"Our members get it. They have been very supportive," he said. "There was a lot of communication about what we had been doing and what we were not doing. Credit to the staff, we were still able to overdeliver on what they were expecting. We didn't have everything done, but we were good down the middle, and they were appreciative of that and surprised what we had gotten done under the conditions."
Unlike most golf courses across the country, Vero Beach Country Club in Florida never closed throughout the various stages of the virus. Stay-at-home orders in Florida were implemented on a county-by-county basis. Indian River County, where Vero Beach is located, along with Martin and St. Lucie counties comprise Florida's Treasure Coast, which got its name when a fleet of Spanish galleons carrying gold wrecked offshore during a storm in 1715.
Unsure how the virus would affect play, the Vero Beach CC cut superintendent Shane Wright's allotment of labor hours from 650 per week to 400. That didn't last long.
Many of the club's seasonal residents from northern locales, who often stay in Florida until mid- to late April, have yet to leave, said Wright, himself a native of Middletown, Ohio. As labor was cut in anticipation of a decline in demand for rounds, play actually rose 30 by percent.
We have Chicago members who haven't gone home. People are playing golf like it's going out of style."
Golf courses in the area were so full, Vero Beach CC members could not bring guests, Wright said. Daily fee courses along the three-county Treasure Coast were so busy they temporarily limited play to county residents, who were required to show proof of residency because so many golfers were streaming north from Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, where courses were closed, a fact confirmed by Dick Gray, superintendent at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie.
Fortunately for Wright, cuts to labor were made in March, before Bermuda growth kicked in.
"Expectations were reduced," Wright said.
"We have Chicago members who haven't gone home. People are playing golf like it's going out of style.
"Normally we get in season about 90 to 105 rounds (per day). We're consistently getting 135 to 150 rounds a day without guests. We were breaking records for play into May."
Wright is still down four bodies and because of increased play he has had to delay or postpone offseason summer projects.
"We have more work and less people," Wright said. "That's what superintendents do. We're always adapting. It's what we do on a daily basis."