Fife Golf Trust gets ready to return to the course

It is expected that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will give a final confirmation today (Thursday) that golf can resume again on Friday, May 29.

Trust Director, Kirkcaldy Councillor Neil Crooks, said he was delighted with the news.

“We’ve been talking about it for a number of weeks now,” he said, “when we get the clearance from the Scottish Government what is golf going to look like?

“We’ve talked to the R&A and we’ve talked to the Scottish Golf Union. We’ve looked at what other groups have done abroad once they started up again like in New Zealand and Australia.

“Obviously there are challenges with social distancing but we think we have come up with a solution.”

On all Fife Golf Trust courses only season ticket holders will be allowed to play. Tee time will have to be booked in advance and only two golfers at a time will be allowed to play together.

Players will be required to turn up 10 minutes in advance of their tee time and will be given instructions regarding social distancing and safety measures before starting their game.

Cllr Crooks said: “The reason we’re allowing season ticket holders only is because we have to be able to try and enforce this.

“If somebody goes out and misbehaves or doesn’t follow the rules we could ultimately sanction that individual by taking their ticket off of them.

“If you just allow pay and play, as they did in New Zealand, you end up with loads of people turning up without a tee time and then you have a crowd forming.

“Using season ticket holders only we can avoid that.”

He added: “I’m delighted that our staff have been kept on during lockdown. They’ve kept the courses in a good condition, they’ve been doing a great job.

“I was up at Dunnikier Park and it’s looking spectacular, simply because nobody has been on it, so when people do turn up to play they are in for a real treat.

“There’s a mental health issue with people being starved of sport so it’s going to be great for golfers to get back out there into the open air.”